Gravel pit permitted in county

A special use permit was approved for a planned gravel pit operation located on Goodrich Road northeast of Cambridge in Washington County.
 No members of the public spoke at a hearing held Monday by county commissioners on the  permit for quarry site owner Braun Jensen Construction.  
 There was at least one person earlier in the permitting process who expressed concerns about what blasting at the gravel pit might do to their groundwater well in the area.
 Darin Braun, owner of the pit property, said he’s willing to get the neighbor’s well tested before the pit is open to see if anything changes after the gravel pit starts operations. The neighbor also owns a gravel pit right across the road.
 Braun said opening a gravel pit will complement his construction business and allow him to be more competitive in bidding on projects.
 The company does a lot of bridge work all over the state and needs larger rocks. On a couple of jobs, Braun said he has had to buy the rip rap in Ontario and truck it to the site, an extra expense for taxpayers. He also thinks there is a market to sell larger rocks for landscaping and other projects around Boise. There are not that many sources of large rocks in the area. The nearest source to Boise is Idaho City for larger rocks.
 Braun said he recently secured the necessary permit to operate the gravel pit from the Idaho Department of Lands. He will have to reclaim the site when its useful life is over under state law.
 He will be required to control any dust at the site and prevent any gravel materials from getting into creeks or groundwater, although there are no sources of water nearby, he said.
 The property is called Sagebrush Estates LLC and consists of 34 acres. The gravel pit will be opened at a rate of use of 5 acres at a time. Vegetation at the location will keep the dust down, Braun said.
 The county planning and zoning commission held a public hearing on the special use permit application on May 21.
 The commission sent the special use permit to county commissioners with a recommendation that it be approved.
 The land is zoned A1 and a special use permit is required to operate an industrial gravel pit.