Paulding County commissioners deny controversial quarry proposal
PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. - The Paulding County Planning Commission has voted to deny a proposal to turn 200 acres of land into a rock quarry.
The quarry would have been along the border of Paulding and Carroll counties off Highway 101.
The proposal had been contentious from the start. Residents said they were afraid the mining operation would have brought more noise, traffic, and health concerns.
"We might not be able to stay here if this happens," said Charlotte Steed Moon told FOX 5 at a meeting in July. Her family has lived on the same property since before the Civil War. "The noise, the air pollution, the blasting, the damage to houses."
Proposed Paulding County rock quarry meets backlash
Explosive pushback from people in one metro Atlanta community over plans to build a rock quarry there. The 200-acre site sits off Highway 101 on the border of Carroll and Paulding counties. Residents say the mining operation's explosions and truck traffic will ruin their peaceful neighborhood.
Carroll County commissioners also came out against the project in a letter, asking their Paulding County counterparts to deny the project "due to the concerns for the safety, environmental, and general welfare of Carroll County's residents."
Supporters of the project say it would have been heavily regulated to make sure that impacts to the nearby communities would have been minimal.
"There are many misconceptions about rock quarries that create unnecessary fear and concern of the citizens," Mark Brown of TPM Land and Natural Resource Consulting, one of the applicants, wrote in an email to FOX 5. "The state of GA is in a deficit for the products that are produced from rock quarries, which are used to build our roads, schools, churches, homes, and businesses."
After discussing concerns at a meeting on Tuesday night, the Paulding County Planning Commission voted 5-0 to deny both applications.