photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission

A map shows various phases for a proposed quarry at 1174 E. 2300 Road southeast of Eudora. Topeka-based Mid-States Materials is seeking a conditional use permit to operate a limestone quarry on 242 acres there, right near the existing Hamm Quarry.

A permit to establish a new quarry in Eudora is on the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission’s agenda for approval Wednesday, and Eudora’s city staff has “considerable concerns” based largely on anticipated growth south of the city.

The applicant, Topeka-based Mid-States Materials, is seeking approval to break ground on a limestone quarry at 1174 East 2300 Road, just southeast of Eudora and right across the road from the existing Hamm Quarry. According to a summary of the application, Mid-States Materials wants to operate the quarry on a 242-acre parcel — with no more than 50 acres open for quarrying activity at any time — for 20 years.

Hamm Quarry has itself been the subject of concerns in recent years, particularly in August of 2020 when the Douglas County Commission approved an amendment to Hamm Quarry’s conditional use permit allowing it to expand. In the months prior to that decision, neighbors raised concerns about increased truck traffic, and planning commissioners voiced “extreme concern” about the safety hazards of a pit that the company operating the quarry wanted to turn into a pond.

photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission

A map shows the proposed quarry boundary in relation to the existing Hamm Quarry. The proposed quarry is outlined in blue and Hamm Quarry is outlined in white dashes.

In a letter to the countywide planning commission about Mid-States Materials’ proposed quarry, Eudora Planning Commission chair Grant Martin said the city’s main concern lay in Eudora’s anticipated growth over the next 20 years, which the city is expecting to coincide with Panasonic’s $4 billion, 4,000-job electric vehicle battery plant coming to nearby De Soto. Martin said city staff anticipated Eudora’s growth pattern will see it continue to expand to the south and then expand eastward toward East 2300 Road.

That growth is depicted in two key city documents, according to Martin’s letter: the Eudora Comprehensive Plan and an Urban Growth Area Interlocal Agreement between Eudora and Douglas County. The comprehensive plan includes a future land use map showing a continuation of growth south of Kansas Highway 10, likely including commercial development along the K-10 corridor and residential development radiating toward the quarry area, at an accelerated rate because of the anticipated employment growth.

Martin said in the letter that growth would likely mean that suburban density residential development would be occurring within a quarter mile of the quarry boundary while it’s in operation.

“Generally, having such uses — residential and mining/extraction — near each other is not desirable and raises a variety of concerns regarding potential negative effects on future growth patterns and the quality of life in nearby residential areas,” Martin said in the letter.

And there are already a number of homes located near the proposed quarry. Concerns from folks who may eventually live nearby could be wide ranging, Martin said, like drainage or groundwater issues, noise and odor nuisances, safety concerns from blasting activity and material storage, and heavier traffic.

photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission

A map shows the area within an approximately one-mile radius the property Mid-States Materials wants to turn into a quarry, outlined in dashes. The property itself is outlined in blue, and residences are shown as red dots.

In addition to the letter from the Eudora Planning Commission, eight more letters from area residents voice opposition to the new quarry, citing myriad concerns similar to the ones Martin outlined.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission will discuss the conditional use permit at its Wednesday meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. in the City Commission Room at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.