Halifax Aggregates, a rock mining company, has submitted a request to have approximately 250 acres of land near the Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport rezoned from light industrial to residential agricultural.

County Attorney Glynn Rollins told commissioners late Friday that he received an email from the company’s attorney, Dhamian Blue, stating that the company filed a request for the zoning map amendment.

The rezoning application comes after commissioners in April rejected a proposed mining and quarrying ordinance, which meant that the company would have to resort to the application process.

If the rezoning request is ultimately successful, the company would have to submit a special use permit request to the board of adjustment. Rollins said in April that with respect to the area where they propose to mine, the company would have to contend with the use restrictions in the airport overlay district.

The request

The July 31 document from Blue says that while the company seeks to rezone the property for an aggregate quarry, “We underscore that any and all permitted RA use would be appropriate. Despite Halifax Aggregates' desire to develop a quarry on the property, such use is only one of several potential uses that the planning board and board of commissioners must consider. In this regard, nothing in this letter, the application, or enclosed materials should be construed as an effort to create or establish any reciprocal agreement between Halifax Aggregates and the county, wherein rezoning is conditioned upon the development of a quarry.”

The rezoning request goes into detail on what constitutes a rock quarry and says, “The mining industry has evolved drastically over the decades, and modern-day quarries have proven to be compatible with a multitude of land uses. State-of-the-art technology has proven to minimize concerns involving noise, vibration, and dust. Further, mining is a highly regulated industry with multiple levels of government review. As such, mines can be found throughout the country — and North Carolina — in close proximity to schools, homes, churches, airports, and almost any other type of structure.”

Quarries that produce construction aggregates provide a number of essential economic and infrastructure benefits, he said.

Site details

The property consists of 254.959 acres of undeveloped land that sits between J.S. Pope Road and Quankey Creek, the letter accompanying the application says. The project area is approximately 417.249 acres in size and is 50 percent agricultural fields and 50 percent woodlands that include an equal mix of pine and hardwood.

Within a mile of the project, the population in 2025 was 64, with a total of 41 housing units, seven of which are vacant. Blue said this equates to less than 21 people per square mile, the low end for what is considered rural.

Within 3 miles, the population in 2025 was 900, with a total of 530 housing units — 91 of which were vacant. This equates to 287 people per square mile, still well within the range of what is considered rural, according to the letter.

Under the Mining Act of 1971, North Carolina requires an applicant to post a reclamation bond or security before a mining permit can be issued.

The quarry would be located to minimize any potentially negative effects on neighbors and residential dwellings. Of the nearly 250 acres of land to be rezoned, the quarry pit area would be approximately 80 acres.

Buffers

The project would feature a minimum 100-foot undisturbed buffer around the intended area, waterways, wetlands, and neighboring property, as well as a minimum 300-foot offset between Quankey Creek and any mining/processing equipment or activity.

Diversion ditches and baffles placed throughout the property and larger project area would reduce standing water and control runoff. Berms and screens would also be critical features of the project to minimize noise and reduce the visibility of quarry operations from neighboring properties.

Operations

Operations at the project quarry and production plant would occur between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The quarry would be closed to shipping on Sundays, and no blasting would occur on weekends or major holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Day, the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.

Quarry development would involve removing the overburden using conventional excavation equipment to expose the granite. A majority of the removed overburden would be used to construct the screening berms and other site earthwork, and all overburden storage areas would be seeded and vegetated.

Blue said in the letter that although blasting granite would be a necessary feature of the quarry, Halifax Aggregates would use modern, highly controlled technology to break the material into smaller, unconsolidated parts, which will allow for excavation.

The material would then be loaded onto trucks that will dump the material into the primary crusher hopper or onto a feed stockpile located close to the primary dump hopper to be fed later with a loader.

The blasted granite would then be conveyed to the processing plant for further crushing, washing, and stockpiling by product specification before delivery to customers.

He said that blasting operations could be conducted safely without damaging any off-site structures, without harming any animals, and well within regulatory limits. “Vibration from compliant blasting produces less stress on a home than many environmental changes and normal household activities.”

The use of seismographs is an industry-standard procedure to document vibration levels in each direction from the quarry to monitor compliance with state regulations. “Notably, many common household activities produce vibration levels that can be higher than normal blast vibration levels,” he wrote. “A typical blast lasts less than one second and occurs only one to two times per month.”

He wrote that blasting activities are highly regulated. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulates the possession, storage, and use of explosives; the Mine Safety and Health Administration has jurisdiction over the use of explosives at mining sites; the North Carolina Department of Transportation regulates the transportation of explosives; and the State Fire Marshal's Office has authority over the possession, use, and storage of explosives in North Carolina.

“Research on blast vibrations has measured the effects of stresses caused by normal household activities as they compare to blast effects,” Blue said. “The vibration levels from the quarry's blasting activities would be well below the levels caused by common activities in a home. In fact, walking on a floor can cause vibration levels higher than the levels we expect any neighbors to experience.”

The company would limit blasting activities to occur only between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with no blasting on weekends or major holidays.

Blue wrote that noise levels at the property line would not exceed 70 decibels during operating hours.

Traffic

He said the roughly 1,700-foot-long on-site road from the quarry's entrance to the scale would be paved. Additionally, a truck tire wheel wash would be provided at the plant for cleaning tires before vehicles move onto paved roads. Track-out materials would be prevented by regular wet sweeping of the roadways.

As for traffic and road capacity, after the quarry becomes operational, all nearby intersections are expected to operate smoothly. “In fact, traffic delays are projected to be minimal, with less than fifteen seconds of delay per vehicle at nearby intersections during rush hours,” Blue wrote. “Also, after adding traffic from the quarry, the most heavily used road would only be at approximately 36 percent of its available design capacity, meaning that more than 60 percent of roadway design capacity would remain available on all roads.”

Nearest structures and impacts

The property currently is one of only a handful of parcels in the area zoned light industrial. Most, if not all, of those parcels appear to be owned by the county for the Halifax Corporate Park, which is largely undeveloped. The land appears to be used for farming or agriculture. “All of the other surrounding property, except for the Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport, is zoned residential agricultural and includes farmland, woodlands, and a handful of structures.”

The nearest structures to the potential excavation area are the airport — at 4,500 feet — and homes located at distances of 1,700; 2,350; 3,300; 5,500; and 5,850 feet. “Notably, and as with other RA uses, the construction and operation of a quarry ‘will be in unity and harmony with the surrounding area and will maintain the value of adjoining or adjacent property.’”

Blue said the property's proximity to the airport does not pose any obstacle to the requested rezoning. "Based on location and elevation, the proposed operation and all similar proposed operations do not meet the FAA definition of an obstruction and do not adversely affect protected airspace associated with Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport."

Economic opportunities

Blue wrote that residential agricultural zoning will continue to advance the county's economic development priorities.

“Notably, the property is located within the Roanoke River/I-95 Economic Development Area as delineated on the County's Growth Strategy Map,” he said. “Additionally, almost every single one of the specially permitted uses identified in Ordinance Section 1301.02 is commercial in nature, including a quarry. Mines create jobs in extraction, processing, transportation, and equipment maintenance. They also generate substantial tax revenue for local and state governments.”

Once a quarry's extraction capabilities are exhausted, through a well-planned reclamation plan, a quarry can be repurposed as a recreational lake, park, or a neighborhood with lakefront lots.

The quarry Halifax Aggregates envisions would result in approximately $25 million in direct investment. Such a project would create 20 direct full-time jobs, with hourly wages ranging from approximately $25 to $40 per hour, accompanied by in-house training and development. Salaried positions likely would pay $75,000 to $150,000 per year. The operation would serve as a platform for 20 to 50 additional jobs at logistics firms and value-added manufacturers like concrete block, ready-mixed concrete, and asphalt, as well as support dozens of locally contracted maintenance, trucking, and construction jobs. A quarry project would add $300,000 or more per year in new tax revenue to the county, he wrote.

Further comments by Rollins

“I just want you to be aware that the process has begun,” the county attorney told the board Monday. “I suspect we were all kind of wondering when it was going to start.”

The request will go to the planning board for review and eventually to the board of commissioners.