UPDATE, May 10:
On a 26-2 vote, the La Salle County Board voted to not rule on the zoning change until their July meeting. Board members criticized the sand company’s lack of follow-through on plans to build a sand pipeline and barge loading facility after the demand for sand dropped. Read the Times story.

UPDATE, May 4:
By unanimous vote, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the petition from Northern White Sand on May 4th. The matter goes next to the La Salle County Board.

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Original Story:

The La Salle County Zoning Board of Appeals will consider an application for a special use for riverfront property just east of Buffalo Rock State Park at its May 4th meeting in Ottawa. Northern White Sand, LLC has filed a petition to allow the construction of a “barge fleeting operation” for the “transloading and hauling of grain, sand, gravel or other non-hazardous granular material.” The property is currently zoned for agricultural use.

Background: Northern White Sand owns and, until recently, operated a sand mine north of the state park near Route 6. Continue reading “Zoning Board to Rule May 4th on Buffalo Rock Barge Terminal”