County officials approve massive, controversial sand mine in Kansas City outskirts
Leavenworth County commissioners on Wednesday approved a fiercely opposed permit for a massive sand mining operation near the Kansas River.
Kaw Valley Companies, a family of construction and mining firms based in Kansas City, Kansas, sought a special use permit to build a mine and extract thousands of tons of sand daily in rural Leavenworth County.
A group of organized neighbors has fought the project for more than a year. They worry the mine could threaten the quality of their well water, sink property values and pollute the area with dust and noise. They, along with local school districts and the county sheriff, have raised safety concerns about the barrage of trucks that will haul sand through the otherwise sleepy, pastoral neighborhood just north of DeSoto.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to award the permit. Only Mike Stieben, who represents the area, voted against it.
Several commissioners said the project met permit requirements and the county needed to find ways to boost industrial development, which would help lower property taxes for residents.
“Hopefully this is to send a message that Leavenworth County is open for business,” said Commissioner Jeff Culbertson.
But the vote left hundreds of residents disappointed.
“I can’t even believe it,” said Angie Morgan, who lives within a half-mile of the proposed site. “There’s no way you can say that, oh yeah, this is the kind of area you’d want to have industrial mining in.”
Neighbors have argued the 220-acre mining operation will forever change the area, which is dotted with houses and agricultural land. They say they are exploring options for appealing the county’s decision.
Kaw Valley plans to dig a pit, fill it with water and use a dredge line to vacuum material out of the pond. Other machinery would separate sediment and sort fine sand from coarse sand. The company will not process sand on the site, but truck it all to its Edwardsville plant.
Sand is one of the most abundant materials on Earth and it’s used to make everything from glass to concrete to computer chips. But with only a few employees on site and an anticipated modest boost in property taxes, residents say the risks of the project far outweigh any benefits. Even sales tax on the sand won’t benefit the county, as the company plans to sell its product from Wyandotte County.
Kaw Valley acknowledged the mine could decrease surrounding property values in the area. The company agreed to pay royalties on the sand it collects, an estimated benefit of $75,000 per year to the county.
The property in question has been used as farmland for decades. But it has been zoned for industrial use since the 1960s.
Culbertson said such zoning decisions were “not meant to be a popularity contest.” And though no heavy industry operates in the area currently, save for passing railroads, he said residents should have been aware of the local zoning.
“It keeps getting brought up that this is not an industrial neighborhood. It’s zoned industrial so you can’t convince me,” he said. “The railroad is an industrial use. How long has the railroad been there?”
But Stieben said commissioners needed to consider another element in the decision: the existing character of the neighborhood. He noted that the body last October approved a nearby development of foster care homes in that area.
“I think it’s an insult to our area,” Stieben said of the mining operation. “This is not the only place where you could put a sand mine. And it does not fit with this area.”
County staff recommended approval of the permit, but with several conditions. A major provision calls for the company to help fund a complete replacement of the narrow roads it plans to use for transporting sand.
Last week, the company objected to that condition during a public hearing. But Kansas City Attorney Justin Johl, who represents Kaw Valley, said the firm was “quite pleased” with the outcome of the vote. He said the company hopes its project will spur additional development in the area.
With planning work on the new roads, equipment procurement and site work, Johl said it would be at least 18 to 24 months before the mine is operational. Even then, he said the mining work would occur in phases.
“It’s a process,” said Johl, a lawyer at Shook, Hardy & Bacon. “They’re not developing all 220 acres right off the bat.”
The project has elicited concerns from the county planning commission, a nearby golf course, neighboring cities and school districts. Local residents spent months compiling their own research on the project and its developer. They have stayed active online, compiled hundreds of pages of reports and lobbied county officials.
Neighbors drew attention to Kaw Valley’s history of federal safety violations at its other mines and its history of not paying local property taxes on time.
The company owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in delinquent property taxes in Wyandotte County. Though some of those debts went back years, county records show they were paid just in advance of last week’s public hearing on the project in Leavenworth County.
Those concerns, though, were downplayed by commissioners who said they must consider only the factors allowed under state law in making zoning decisions.
“That’s outside of our purview and control,” Commissioner Chad Schimke said of the concerns about taxes and safety violations.
The site of the proposed mine has raised corn, soybeans and wheat since at least the 1950s. But the owner has moved out of state and agreed to lease the property to Kaw Valley. The owner previously said she expects the land to eventually be converted into a recreational lake.
For Sarah Williams, that farmland was one of the things that drew her to the area 17 years ago. She remembers the first time she crossed the Kansas River from De Soto, exposing a view of the lush river valley.
“It was so beautiful. And it felt like a gateway,” she said. “You could leave your worries on the southern side of the bridge.”
Williams said she was frustrated that the county didn’t seem to listen to concerns of the local residents and she is suspicious of the company developing the site.
But she plans to keep up the fight.
The developer has plenty of work left before the project is a reality. And she said she still wants to protect her peaceful slice of the county. Her dream is to maintain its quiet and agricultural landscape.
“It always has the most beautiful sunsets, beautiful skies. It’s so fun to watch the crops change with the seasons,” she said. “It’s something in your molecules. It’s satisfying to my soul and to my husband’s and to so many of us around here.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 5:09 PM.
