David Houle, who with his wife Denise manages Apache Campground in Sanford, is concerned that a proposed gravel pit on Bernier Road will be noisy and create traffic hazards on the quiet rural roadway. The Sanford Planning Board will take up the application from R. Pepin & Sons at their Wednesday, March 16 meeting, set for 7 p.m. at City Hall. Houle would like to meet with other concerned neighbors at 6 p.m.
The proposal by R. Pepin & Sons to operate a mineral extraction operation on land owned by John Rivard is on the agenda for Wednesday’s city Planning Board meeting. R. Pepin & Sons is requesting conditional use approval for the gravel pit.
It would not be the first gravel pit on Bernier Road, but if it’s approved as proposed, it would be the first to use the rural roadway as the route to get the product to Route 4 and its ultimate destinations.
Beth Della Valle, who became Sanford’s planning director last fall, said it is her understanding there are no other gravel pits in Sanford that are not on, or have direct access to, major or primary roads.
While noise is the biggest factor for one neighbor who said his kitchen window would be 135 feet from the gravel pit, the manager of a nearby campground is worried not only about noise, but truck traffic.
David Houle and his wife Denise manage Apache Campground, which is owned by Denise’s parents, Gerard and Rita Bernier, who live nearby. Built 35 years ago, the campground opens each May, and has 120 seasonal campers.
“Tailgates slamming, crushing and screening – I would hear it,” said David Houle.
Earlier this week during a drive along Bernier Road – a winding, narrow stretch until it widens on the approach to New Dam Road – Houle said he’s worried that the truck traffic from the gravel pit will also pose a hazard for pedestrians.
Bernier Road in Sanford begins at New Dam Road and extends into Alfred over Hay Brook Bridge, where it becomes Stone Road. Trucks can’t use that route into Alfred to reach Route 4 because of the poor condition of the bridge.
The only way trucks leaving the proposed gravel pit could reach Route 4 is along Bernier Road to New Dam Road, passing the campground, a series of newer homes and a farm along the way.
Houle had similar concerns 15 years ago when a gravel pit was proposed – and ultimately approved – near the proposed Rivard/ Pepin pit. In that case, however, the owner built a road directly to Route 4.
After gravel mining on a portion of the property on the southern side of Bernier Road was complete, the owner dug out that portion of the road approach and planted trees there.
Houle said he had complaints from campers about noise during that initial gravel operation, but spoke to the owner, and the noise abated. That pit has since been sold, and continues to use a direct approach to Route 4.
Neither Rivard nor Matthew Pepin responded to phone calls seeking comment.
According to documents on file at the Sanford Planning Department, an initial estimate of 30 to 60 truck trips a day at the proposed pit has been ratcheted back to 12 a day.
Della Valle said the Planning Board has a variety of options at its disposal when the matter comes up on Wednesday’s agenda, ranging from simply discussing the matter to discussing and denying or approving it, with or without conditions.
She said she has mentioned a direct Route 4 approach from the pit to the applicant as a possible alternative, but has been told it isn’t possible.
Sanford Public Works Director Matt Hill has calculated it would cost about $65,500 to repair Bernier Road due to damage caused by 12 truck trips a day over a five-year period, a price the applicant would be expected to pay.
Della Valle said the Planning Board could impose conditions such as days and hours of operation – among others – should it vote to approve the gravel pit.
Charles Kasinowicz of Revere, Massachusetts, recently retired and planned to move full-time to his seasonal home near the proposed gravel pit. While Kasinowicz wouldn’t be directly affected by truck traffic because of his home’s location, he figures he’ll hear the pit in operation, and that would be bad enough.
“My kitchen window (would be) 135 feet from the pit. It would be unbearable for me to live in that house with that pit operating,” he said, referring to the noise he said would be generated by digging, grinding, crushing, refueling and vehicle backup alarms.
In the summer, Bernier Road, which is near Estes Lake, is filled with joggers, elderly walkers, dogs, parents pushing baby carriages and kids on bicycles, said Kasinowicz.
“It’s a small residential rural road,” he said.
If the pit is approved, Kasinowicz says, he’ll sell his property – though he expects its value would plummet if a gravel pit opens so close to his home.
The Planning Board meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the third-floor chambers at City Hall.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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