Homeowners say Rockdale County is a county that lives up to its name.
“North Rockdale County is truly a treasure, I have property that has a rare plant, granite,” resident Cindy Roesel said.
But homeowners are worried that the county’s natural resource, granite, will be taken advantage of, after Rockdale County Commissioners voted to approve the zoning and permits for a dimension stone mine.
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The land is located along State Highway 20 and Zingara Road and will span across more than 90 acres of land.
“I’m not happy with it,” resident Dean Richardson said.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln spoke with several Rockdale homeowners who say they are in the process of appealing the board’s decision after months of protest.
“I understand we have 30 days to appeal,” resident Susan Murphy said.
“I don’t think the commissioners would want it in their neighborhood because we certainly don’t want it in our neighborhood,” Richardson told Lincoln.
Last month the owners behind the development told the county’s zoning and planning board this project is just misunderstood.
Craig Franklin, the co-owner of LG 13 LLC, the company behind this project says they were attracted to Rockdale County for the granite.
“All we do is take our large blocks of stone and then it gets taken away to our customers,” Franklin said.
Franklin says the granite will be turned into countertops, monuments, and other items.
He told zoning and planning commissioners that, unlike a quarry where blasting is used, their process involves drilling and water sawing to reduce noise and dust.
“We don’t do any sort of blasting, no crushing whatsoever,” Franklin said.
Their studies show the drilling will be about as loud as a large truck driving by.
Susan Murphy says more than 200 families rely on well water and they’re worried this drilling could impact that.
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“However deep that they plan on going, it could literally go into the same vein that our water system is in, and we don’t have County water,” Murphy said.
The county has not responded to our request for comment.
Last month zoning change and permits were denied by zoning and planning commissioners.
However, the County Commissioners’ vote overrides that decision after they approved rezoning and a special use permit for the proposed dimension stone mine.
Commissioner Sherri Washington requested there be testing to see if wildlife and well water will be impacted by this project.
Homeowners tell Channel 2 Action News they’re currently working with an attorney to appeal the commissioner’s decision.
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