A Manhattan-based company is asking Douglas County for permission to create a sand-dredging operation on part of 310 acres north of Lawrence near the Midland Junction.

But neighbors say they are concerned for several reasons, including objections the operation would strip a portion of the land of its agricultural use.

An architect of the project says the site presents the unique opportunity to extract sand for construction materials on land not adjacent to the Kansas River, a practice state and federal officials have voiced concerns about.

“We need a facility in this general region to fill the market need,” said Tim Herndon, a principal at Lawrence-based Landplan Engineering representing Midwest Concrete Materials on the project.

Project leaders will make an informal presentation to neighbors during a session open to the public from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Lawrence Municipal Airport.

“This is a farming community,” said Margaret Shirk, who lives near the proposed site. “Nothing like that should be on the best land.”

Landplan Engineering has filed a request for a conditional-use permit on the property that Midwest Concrete Materials owns. A public hearing before the planning commission is scheduled for October, and the county commission would consider it later.

Herndon said project leaders on Monday want to brief neighbors on the plans and also get feedback from them before presenting to the planning commission.

According to the proposal, the company wishes to conduct sand excavation, extraction and processing operations on a portion of the property in conjunction with the agricultural use there.

It’s a large tract of land near the Midland Junction that runs south to North 1900 Road. Residential properties along East 1400 Road are not included.

The sand excavation operations would take place in the southern half of the tract of land. In the conditional-use permit application, the company states the project will create jobs and revenue opportunities.

The land’s proximity to U.S. Highway 24-59 also attracted the company to the site, Herndon said.

“There will be nothing in Douglas County that is subject to as many federal and state regulations as this,” he said.

He said plans also call for the area to ultimately become a lake that would present the opportunity for fishing or frontage real estate development. The life of the sand facility is estimated to be between 30 to 50 years.

Neighbors said they have plenty of questions and want to learn more. Several county residents have emphasized protecting farm land in the Kansas River valley recently, and it was a major issue Nancy Thellman raised before she was elected to the county commission in November.

“That’s been my greatest concern for a lot of things here in Grant Township just because this is where the largest continuous mass of those soils is concentrated,” said Barbara Clark, who also lives north of Lawrence.