Tell Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning Board to DENY sand mining permit for PA Landers in South Plymouth
Phase 2 of massive sand mine at Mountain Farm Rd.
Read about Lander’s Phase 1 of this sand mine in the Sand Wars Report here
Truck traffic, noise, sand dust, threatens neighborhoods
Landers using “cranberry bog” to evade zoning bylaw, claim agricultural exemption
The permit application and plans are below.
Letter from GAF Engineering to Town: ZBA Submittal Packet
Full Set – Earth Removal Permit – 10-9-2024
Town’s Distribution Memo Mining Plans PA Landers 2024
Oppose this project at upcoming meetings and hearings!
Nov. 20, 2024: 6 p.m. Cedarville Steering Committee: makes recommendation to Planning Board and ZBA on whether to approve project. Call, write, members. Attend meeting at Cedarville Fire Station on Nov. 20. Find out more here about the Committee; check their agenda for updates.
Dec. 11, 2024 at 7 p.m. Town Hall, Planning Board public hearing: email, call write Planning Board Chair Steve Bolotin to tell him to recommend against the mining operation. Attend hearing on Dec. 11 and speak out! Check the Planning Board website here. Check their agenda for updates.
Dec. 18, 2024: Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing on whether to VOTE to grant permit. Email, call, write chair Buster Main and all ZBA members to demand they DENY the permit. If they grant the permit the project goes ahead unless there is a lawsuit to stop it. Take action now! Check the ZBA website here.
This mine is being disguised as a “farm” to evade the law. Already Landers has mined almost 5 million cubic yards of sand and gravel over 89 acres. This leveled half of one of the highest hills in the Town. Now the new project wants to REMOVE the rest of the hill. This new project for 2 million cubic yards must be stopped!
This 7 million cubic yard mine will be one of the biggest in the region — close to AD Makepeace’s active mines in Carver, and almost as big as Makepeace’s 7.2 acre mine underway in Plymouth. Read more about Makepeace’s huge Plymouth mine here. The Town allowed this mine to operate without a permit until CLWC exposed the expired permit and 72 missing inspection reports.
Background:
PA Landers has submitted an application for a special earth removal permit to create “cranberry beds and attendant facilities.” The site is named 0 Landers Farm Way on the application and is an expansion of the 89 acre sand off Mountain Hill Road. The Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has issued at least three permits under the guise of cranberry agriculture. For over two decades, the ZBA continued to grant and extend these permits, allowing a PA Landers to mine sand and gravel under the pretense of agricultural zoning exemptions. A topographic view reveals that the so-called cranberry bogs and tailwater ponds are situated on the region’s highest hills, at elevations of at least 150 feet, making the true intent of these operations apparent. This site is located next to the 23 acre 11 Cantor Court site that PA Landers also sand mined from 2008-2017. Read more about the Cantor Court site here.
Trucks will utilize Hedges Pond Road for site access to Mountain Hill Road/Landers Farm. See Earth Removal Site Plans here. If the Town of Plymouth approves another earth removal permit for the proposed project at 73 Hedges Pond Road, excessive truck traffic in this area is expected on Hedges Pond Road. The PA Landers project proposal outlines the creation of 9 acres of new-style bogs and a 6-acre tailwater recovery pond, to be completed in three phases over 6 to 8 years, with a total extraction of 2,007,086 cubic yards of sand and gravel from the 129-acre site. However, companies in the region have been exploiting agricultural exemptions, falsely claiming to establish cranberry bogs or tailwater ponds to evade legal scrutiny while primarily focusing on sand and gravel mining. This project is projected to generate at least 40 truckloads of material per day, raising concerns about silica dust pollution, aquifer contamination, decreased property values, and increased noise and vibration levels.
Notably, the permit application lacks any erosion control measures, as the applicant claims that “erosion control during construction is unlikely because the reservoir and each cranberry bed section will be excavated into the surrounding land. This bowl-like feature, along with the coarse granular nature of the soil, will prevent erosion and off-site sedimentation.” See Zoning Application and submittal materials here.
To prepare the site for excavation, the applicant states that there will be land clearing, grubbing, stumping, stripping and stockpiling of topsoil, and grading for a proposed tailwater recovery pond and access road. Excavation of this magnitude will significantly alter the natural dynamics of the landscape, increasing the risk of erosion, downstream flooding, and sediment runoff.
Additionally, a portion of this site is designated as DEP Zone II of a Public Water Supply and abuts several homes.
Above: PA Landers proposed site in relation to Cantor Court site, and other proposed site at 73 Hedges Pond Road.
Above: Site is outlined in red. Portions of the site as indicated Rare Species Core Habitat in purple.
Above: Topographic map highlighting several 98-foot hills and two 148-foot peaks on site. These hills are among the last remaining in Plymouth, as sand and gravel extraction and other development activities have significantly altered the natural landscape.