Proposal goes before Plan Commission on Thursday
By Jason Arndt
Editor
A rising demand from area construction projects, including the Foxconn development in Mount Pleasant, have left Southeastern Wisconsin with an increased need for gravel pits.
The depleted resource, according to Robert Kordus, president of Union Grove-based Asphalt Contractors, Inc., has prompted his company to look at multiple parcels in the Town of Spring Prairie in Walworth County for mineral extraction.
Before Asphalt Contractors can move forward, however, the Spring Prairie Planning and Zoning Commission will meet on Thursday to review rezoning requests and consider recommending conditional use permits that would allow the company to open a gravel pit on four parcels belonging to two owners and spanning approximately 260 total acres, according to town officials.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Spring Prairie Town Hall, N6097 Highway 120.
The four parcels are at W2064 Highway 11 and W1966 Spring Prairie Road and off of Highway 120. The site is roughly bordered by Highway 120 on the west, Highway 11 and Spring Prairie Road on the south; Hargraves Road on the east and Potter Road on the north. The site abuts both Highway 120 and Spring Prairie Road.
The parcels are currently zoned A-1 agriculture and would require reclassification as M-3 mineral extraction district.
Asphalt Contractors plan to extract minerals in 19.1-acre increments at the site and conduct crushing operations at its Burlington plant, and operate weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The mining operation would encompass about 140 or the 260 acres, according to Kordus.
The land would be returned to agricultural use upon completion of the project, according to the proposal.
If you go…
WHAT: Spring Prairie Plan Commission meeting to consider proposal that would allow a new gravel pit to operate in the township.
WHEN: Thursday, June 27, at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Spring Prairie Town Hall, N6097 Highway 120
To read the entire story – including the objections some neighbors had during a recent informational meeting – see the June 26 edition of the East Troy Times or the June 27 edition of the Elkhorn Independent.
