Skipping homework in public opinion and politics can sink quarry expansion plans

In a cover story in Rock Products magazine’s November issue, Chris Hopkins writes that before breaking ground on a new quarry site, operators must be on the ground and behind the scenes at a local level.

Hopkins, the senior vice president for aggregates and mining for The Saint Consulting Group, writes that developers could be making a very costly mistake if they neglect to do their homework on the politics involved in the permitting process.

Politics is the great unknown in permitting any land use. What happens if a county commission or his other lives three streets away from the proposed quarry site? What if the mayor’s base of support resides in the surrounding neighborhood? What is the alderman’s brother-in-law operates a small family quarry in town? Even if that alderman recuses himself from voting on the application, what might go on behind the scenes when the board members talk?

Not knowing the answrs from the start can be fatal for an application. The full story is found on the Rock Products online edition. Click here and go to Examining Local Politics on page 16.

Chris Hopkins is senior vice president for aggregates and mining for The Saint Consulting Group, email hopkins@tscg.biz