Charlotte County planning board rejects proposed mining project

The Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board voted 3-1 Aug. 10 to recommend denying a plan amendment and rezoning that would allow mining on land in the eastern part of the county eventually slated for a watersports park. 

James Weeks, owner of the 140.7-acre Farabee Mine and Shell operation, 45030 and 45450 Farabee Road, about 2 miles east of State Road 31 and 5 miles north of Bermont Road, told the board the mine has less than three years of material remaining. The mine produces washed landscape shell and beach-quality sand that Weeks supplies to local distributors. 

Property owner Kurt Traulsen, who operates a recreational motocross park on 164.66 acres at 44800 Bermont Road, about 4 miles from Weeks’ property, has agreed to allow Weeks to mine his land. Afterward, Traulsen would create a watersports park on lakes formed by the excavations if the BOCC approves the rezoning application. 

Weeks and Traulsen cited benefits they said would result from rezoning the property from Agriculture to Mineral Resource Extraction and Excavation Mining when they testified before the Planning and Zoning Board. 

Traulsen said the watersports park would take traffic off the Myakka and Peace rivers and Charlotte Harbor, where many people ride jet skis, water ski and windsurf. 

Weeks said his current truck traffic of 30 to 40 truckloads per day wouldn’t increase at the new mining site. 

But Planning and Zoning Board Vice Chair Stephen Vieira, who represents District 1, where the mine is located, said the county’s traffic consultant reported that the mine generates 75 trucks per day. With each truck making a return trip, it amounts to 150 trips and would create a significant impact on traffic. 

Vieira also raised concerns about ingress and egress. 

Local attorney Michael Haymans spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting and said the Traulsen property is inappropriate for a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning because it has no roadway access. 

Residents Rob Robbins and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Mary Ann Tipton also voiced objections to the application. 

Tipton asked the board to consider the “cumulative effect” the rezoning would have. She said there are eight or more mines spanning about 2,400 acres in the area and that nearby homes are already affected by increased traffic and accidents. 

She cited the Florida Farm Bill, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March, aimed at bolstering the state’s agricultural industry, and said rezoning Traulsen’s land would “lead to more industrialization” in eastern Charlotte County. 

“Your job is to look at the cumulative effects,” Robbins said. “Nobody is doing it, so it is up to Planning and Zoning.” 

In recent months, residents living in eastern Charlotte County near Bermont and Washington Loop roads have been showing up at County Commission meetings to voice opposition to proposed mines and planned developments on agricultural land. 

The only land that can be rezoned to accommodate mines is land zoned for agriculture, according to county Principal Planner Jie Shao. 

If the Board of County Commissioners approves the application, Weeks and Traulsen said both would benefit. 

Traulsen acknowledged that another motocross park in the Punta Gorda area competes with his park and that both lose profits because of the competition. A watersports park with lakes, however, would be unique to the area, he said. 

Weeks said that once his mine is depleted of washed shell and beach sand, he would have to find another location. He said he is starting the process now to ensure there won’t be an interruption in service to his distributors, which include Butwell Stone & Soil Inc., Murdock Stones Etc., Lowe’s and Ace Hardware stores. 

Planning and Zoning Board Chair Clint Baker, the only voting member who supported the application, asked, “Are we going to stop all mines now?” 

The Planning and Zoning Board in May also voted to recommend that the BOCC deny rezoning 1,032.33 acres of agricultural land owned by Kelly Family Holdings LLC, also known as Kelly Farms, for mining operations. That land is adjacent to the Traulsen property.