Close to 75 residents attended Thursday afternoon’s Clark County Board of Zoning appeals to voice their anger over the construction of a purposed sand and gravel pit. The site would be located on 625 acres of land located at 570 S. Dayton Lakeview Road, west of Lake Road and north of the Park Layne Manor Subdivision.

Jim and Barbara Gastineau of Prestige Developers, LLC., are seeking from the BZA a variance which will allow them to use just over 200 areas of the site for the gravel  pit which will operate Monday through Saturday from “dawn to dusk”
In 2005 Gastineau was granted permission to build a golf course on the site. He said, Thursday, he was undecided if he would proceed with the golf course if the gravel pit was constructed.
While Prestige is applying for the variance, an “official operator”, for the site has not been given. Gastineu said a firm called Sunnyridge will be formed once the variance is granted.
If the BZA allows  the variance, the project will still have to be examined by the county because it resides in the flood plain.
BZA Chairman Jeff Horne, of Moorfield Township, said due to a possible conflict of interest he would not be voting on the variance, however, he would still run the public hearing on the matter.
“We have some concerns about an open pit that close to a well field where 12,000 people in western Clark County get their drinking water,” said Commissioner John Detrick, who represented the Clark County commission.
Gastineau said they had been working with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, “The pit would be set back to protect against the possibility of contamination and hazardous waste spills, he said. “But, anytime you start digging in an area with a shallow water table, you are opening yourself to possible exposure.”
Jay Allen, who lives across the street from the entrance to the propose pit, expressed concerns about dust, noise, traffic and the decrease in property value.
“You enjoy your view right now don’t you?” Gastineau said.
“Yes, but I’m looking at a field right now,” Allen said.
“Well, in the future with the new lake we’ll be creating and the other landscaping, you’ll enjoy it even more,” Gastineau said. “People pay more money for homes with those kinds of views,” he said.
“That restoration won’t be done for 50 to 100 years, you said,” Allen stated. “I don’t think I’ll be around then to enjoy it,” he said sarcastically.
A researcher from Wright State University then spoke about the danger the pit would cause to the Crystal Lakes area. She said if the pit would be allowed to be built, only 350 feet away from one of the lakes, it would drain the lake.
“The only thing that would be left is a mud pit with a little bit of water in it,” the scientist said. She added the stagnant water would be a ripe place for mosquitoes.

Another resident addressed the increase in traffic the pit would cause. He said according to the Ohio Department of Transportation study, they estimated 242 truck loads a day.One half of those trucks would be heading west on Route 40 and then south on 235.
He questioned if it was a good idea to allow this increase in traffic on an intersection that is rated the most dangerous intersection in Clark County. In addition to the amount of school traffic including bus traffic and newly licensed high school aged drivers.
Letters opposing the pit were submitted from the Crystal Lakes Property Owners Association, the City of New Carlisle, Bethel Twp., Clark Soil and Water Conservation and the Clark County Engineer’s Office.
Horne decided to end the meeting at 4 p.m., only 90 minutes after it started.