This letter is in support of the neighbors who are concerned about increased traffic from the Yacolt Mountain quarry. Quarry operators want to expand their quarry size and transfer the permitted loads from the Livingston Quarry to them. I think 30 loads per hour is already quite unbearable with the noise, stone dust, and road wear and tear. 235 additional trucks per day on that route will have a major impact.
Conditional uses are put into place to protect residents from the negative effects of new business, industry or mining. If the county allows those conditional uses to be altered whenever a need arises, there is going to be no trust that conditional uses really mean anything.
With the extremely rapid growth our county is experiencing we need to keep the trust of the people who already live here by ensuring that future developments result in a reasonable yet sustainable quality of life.
It’s unfair to expect the neighbors who live along the Yacolt Mountain Quarry truck routes to be subjected to such immensely increased truck traffic.
I also ask that the county provide a clearer definition of “conditional uses” including a short and long-term strategy in order to protect the surrounding communities. Let’s not reverse the Conditional Use Permit at the Yacolt Mountain Quarry without doing due diligence first.
