Mat-Su Assemblymember Mokie Tew moved to kill the amendment he drafted that would have changed the threshold of conditional use permit requirements to extract gravel in the Mat-Su Borough. After several months of public meetings, four additional amendments, and hundreds of public comments against the change, the amendment did not reach a vote.
Gravel extraction activities in neighborhoods, truck traffic, noise, dust, potential water contamination, and elimination of public input were all reasons cited by the public for not wanting this measure to be approved.
Assemblymember Nowers states that she appreciates Tew’s willingness to take the legislation off the table, given the significant public pushback of this and the previous version of the amendment. Nowers continues with this to say about public involvement.
“I’m glad to hear we’re going to kill this. If we’re going to move something forward to the Planning Commission and drag people through this again, I think we need to recognize a few things. Number one is that the public doesn’t get cut out of the process. There’s public notification and the public gets to comment if you’re doing anything significant.”
Nowers went on to say that the legislation should take into account drinking and groundwater impacts, dust, noise, and traffic. In addition, pits that are located within half-mile of one another would need to go through the permit process. Nowers asked that it be tailored for small users, such as limiting the time and extraction amounts.
Tew plans to reintroduce the amendment at an upcoming meeting, potentially as early as April 4th. The new proposed amendment would be required to go to the Planning Commission for review, but could return to the Assembly in early May.
“I would thank all of you guys for your input because I have gotten some good input that I plan on using for the next one to come up. So I will be pushing this forward on our next meeting.”
The discussion will likely continue at various public meetings in the next two months.
