Coyote neighbors fear new landfill on the horizon

By Deborah Nelson
August 28, 2007

Residents living near Holley’s Coyote landfill fear a proposed new excavation pit will eventually expand dumping activities to within 100 feet of their backyards.

But landfill company officials say the property is intended as a soil borrow pit, only, in anticipation of future road bypass construction.

Coyote Land Company is requesting variances to place an excavation pit on property adjoining the landfill, to the east. The parcel in question borders residential streets to the east and south.

The Board of Adjustments is scheduled to hear the request September 6.

Homeowners say they fear once the proposed “borrow pit” is excavated, it will be filled with waste materials.

“Undoubtedly, they want to use it for a landfill in the future,” predicts area resident Howie Jones. “They had already rezoned it for light industrial, and now they want to circumvent that.”

“There’s no intent to do a landfill,” says Coyote spokesman John Warren. “It’s strictly a dirt operation, contingent with other operations in the area. The site will have to conform to proper sloping and landscape regulations…you can’t have a big hole there.”

Coyote’s neighbors began to notice foul odors and experience health problems following an October 2005 fire at the landfill.

In June of this year, Santa Rosa commissioners established new regulations for C&D landfills. The new criteria also cover excavation pits and related land uses.

Those rules stipulate that excavation pits (on light industrial zoned land) must be sited at least 500 feet from existing residential structures, “unless the owner of said structure indicates in writing that he has no objections.”

Coyote is requesting an exception to those rules.

They’re asking for a 100 foot buffer zone around the facility, instead of the new 500-foot requirement.

The change would allow 19.6 acres to be incorporated into the proposed facility area. Without the variance, a 500 foot buffer would reduce the usable area to 16.8 acres, according to company information submitted to Santa Rosa Planning and Zoning.

The company is planning to install a natural buffer zone around the new facility, says Warren, that will block it from the road.

Some area residents believe allowing landfills and excavation pits 500 feet from homes is already too close for comfort. But now that the ordinance is passed, says Jones, officials should stick to it.

“It’s time for county commissioners to stand up and be counted,” he remarks. “They passed an ordinance and now they need to follow through with it.”

In June, Coyote paid EMCA, Inc. $1.6 million for the 27-acre parcel, according to Clerk of Courts records.

Approximately 20 home lots are located along roads bordering the property’s south and east boundaries, per a Property Appraiser’s map. Most, says Jones, are lower income.

“If this were a [higher income area] it would have been stopped by now,” he remarks. He says he’d prefer to see a neighborhood-friendly business come in.

Ordinarily, residents would have nothing to fear because the property falls within NOLF Choctow’s military airport zone (MAZ).

C&D landfills are not allowed in MAZ areas, at all, according to the new regulations.

Citing concerns over smoke and fires, in 2005, Commissioners denied a rezoning that would have allowed a C&D landfill near NAS Whiting Field.

But Commissioners made an exception for the MAZ east of Hwy. 87S, near NOLF Choctaw.

That area encompasses the existing Coyote landfill, the proposed dig site, and parcels registered to Holley Dirt Company, Ashland, Reynolds Ready Mix, J.A. Parker Family, Creetwood Development, and other owners.

Commissioners established a six-month moratorium on new construction & demolition (C&D) disposal facilities in September 2006. In January, the Health Department began monitoring neighborhood air samples for hydrogen sulfide.

Hydrogen sulfide is produced when drywall decomposes in water. Along with drywall, C&D landfills dispose of concrete, wood, asphalt, metal and other building materials.

Study results are currently undergoing state and federal review, and are expected to be released later this year. In the meantime, some neighbors have moved away, and others installed air filters in their homes.

Robert and Betsy Grant eventually relocated to escape what they describe as health problems and odors, and ended up with two mortgages. Betsy Grant opposes a new dig site.

“It’s too much,” she remarks. “Those people on the hill have suffered too much already.”

Editor's Note: Article modified at 3:47 p.m. August 28.

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