49-004 (24) glendale rd articleJAIMtS MROOKS of Glendale Road, a locally well-
known environmentalist, argued against a petition
to extract gravel near his home at the ZBA meeting
last night. "We may be opening up more forest for
the use of gravel pits than is necessary," he
remarked.
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ATTY. ALVERTUS J. MORSE, representing Bill
Willard, Inc., said that the extension of the gravel
operation was necessary to maintain jobs. "The fact
is that this kind of thing has to continue of progress
is to continue in our community," Morse com-
mented.
`Nature' vs. `progress' debate
springs from case of gravel pit
By JONATHAN NEUMAN
About a dozen residents of Glendale Road turned out to
question or oppose a petition to the zoning board of appeals
(ZBA) last night by Bill Willard, Inc., to extract gravel from
a pit off Glendale Road,
Atty. Alvertus J. Morse, representing the gravel company,
argued that the request was for a special permit to continue
an existing operation. He said that the area which has until
now been dug for gravel is almost used up, and the company
needs to move its extracting operation to another portion of
its property.
Some 23 acres of heavily wooded land is the subject of the
request. Willard said that 15.acres would be used, with digg-
ing going 12 feet down.
James Brooks, 229 Glendale Road, an abutter to the gravel
pit, opposed the petition for these reasons: the trucks driving
in and out of the pit would make too much noise; the com-
pany may ask the city to widen the road because of increased
truck traffic; the 23 acres involved mightbe.preserved as
conservation land.
Brooks said that the uprooting of trees and removing of
gravel may lead to flooding of brooks in the area.
The environmentalist also asked the ZBA to investigate
the number of potential gravel pits in the city in areas which
may not be harmful to the environment.
Richard Bowler, 165 Glendale Road, complained that
"right now we have a dump (the city's sanitary landfill) in
our front yard and we don't want a gravel pit in our back
yard."
Atty. Morse argued that the excavation would not cause
additional noise or lead to wider roads. He added that the
trucks would use the same entrance and exit as they use
now.
Referring to Brooks' concern for the environment, Morse
said, "Now it would be nice if we could stop that (noise), and
stop everything and let everything come to an end .... go back
to nature...but the fact is ... jobs are concerned and this kind
of thing has to continue if progress is to continue in our com-
munity."
Edward Willard agreed to limit his operations to weekdays
from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., so that -trucks would not drive on
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the base of the sign to a driveway.
The sign will be located on the west side of King Street off
Hooker Avenue. It is for a new Goodyear Tire store.
James McDonnel, representing his mother who lives on
Hooker Avenue, asked that the sign be four feet lower so that
the light does not go over the Goodyear shop into his
mother's bedroom.
The sign company agreed to erect the sign at a lower level.
No decisions were made last night. The ZBA will meet in a
public session to decide both petitions at a date not yet an-
nounced.