Mat-Su approves gravel pit on historic dairy site, but state may require traffic flaggers

What you need to know:

• The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission unanimously approved a permit for a new 153-acre gravel pit on the historic Havemeister Dairy property, pending a state access permit that would require flaggers to stop traffic on Bogard Road for some trucks entering and exiting the site.
• The pending state driveway permit would require flaggers through 2026, when a roundabout at the nearby Engstrom and Bogard roads intersection is slated for completion. The borough also approved an entrance-only driveway from Engstrom Road.
• The gravel pit will be owned and operated by Central Gravel. The company’s current pit, located nearby, is expected to run out of material soon. Gravel operations at the new site will run from May through October.

PALMER -- The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission on Monday unanimously approved a permit for a large new gravel pit on the historic Havemeister Dairy property, with final site plans pending a state access permit that could require the gravel company to hire flaggers to stop traffic on Bogard Road for some trucks entering and exiting the site.

The 153-acre project spans three parcels bordered by Bogard, Engstrom and Trunk Roads, according to the borough permit.

Operators will extract sand and gravel from the site in rolling 10-acre increments over an estimated 30-year period, with some rock crushing conducted on the property, the permit states. Some buildings on the property will be left in place, including the historic dairy barn, it says, and a berm or trees will block views of the pit from the road.

The land was previously used for agriculture, including the Havemeister Dairy, which closed in 2021. Landowners Bob Havemeister and Ralph Kircher plan to lease the parcels to Central Gravel, according to the permit application. The arrangement allows the land to stay within the families' control, Franci Havemeister said after the meeting Monday.

Central Gravel currently operates out of a large gravel pit about a half-mile east of the new site. But that land, also leased by Kircher, is almost out of material and will cease operations later this year, company officials said. All Central Gravel operations will be moved to the new site, they said.

The company is one of the few operators in the borough’s core area to sell to both large and small projects, customers and staff told the planning commission Monday.

How the new operation will affect traffic along Bogard Road, one of the region's busiest corridors will depend on the requirements of a pending state access permit for access from the property to the congested thoroughfare. The area around the newly approved pit is the site of frequent accidents as traffic backs up at the intersection of Bogard and Engstrom roads, according to borough data.

A preliminary state permit agreement requires Central Gravel to hire flaggers to stop oncoming traffic on Bogard each time a truck makes a left turn into or out of the site, according to emails between company officials and the state that were included in the borough permit application.

Those flaggers would be required through 2026, the projected completion date for a roundabout designed to relieve some of the congestion at the Bogard and Engstrom intersection, according to the emails.

[Related: A long-term access plan could dramatically reshape traffic along the Bogard-Seldon corridor]

Once the workers complete the roundabout, Central Gravel must install a small median at the driveway, making it a right-in, right-out-only entrance and exit, according to the emails. The company must also install truck traffic warning signs on Bogard, and a coffee shack operating within the state highway right-of-way in a nearby pullout that uses a pair of illegal driveways must close, they state.

Information from state officials about how stopping truck traffic on Bogard Road would affect overall traffic flow was not immediately available. Jade Laughlin, who co-owns Central Gravel with his wife, Kelly Heck, said he hopes to negotiate the requirement with the state because he believes completely stopping traffic will increase congestion rather than decrease it and make the road less safe.

Borough planning officials said they have not studied the impact of flaggers because the corridor is outside their management. They said they were unaware of any other state access permit that requires flaggers for years at a time.

Access to the site will also be constructed from Engstrom Road, according to the borough permit, with use limited to before the afternoon rush hour.

Laughlin said that gravel operations at the site will run from May through late October, with truck traffic paused around school start times. About 12 trucks per hour are expected to enter and exit the new property during peak operations, he said.

Preparation for the new pit will likely begin on the property this summer, with full operations starting next year, pending state road permits, he said.

At Monday's meeting, the Planning Commission denied a North Lakes Community Council request to require Central Gravel to relocate its driveway to a new road connecting Engstrom and Trunk on the north side of the property, should the borough build it. That route is still in the preliminary planning stages with no set date for design or construction, borough Public Works Director Tom Adams said at the meeting.

“This is completely separate,” Planning Commission member Doug Glenn said of the road proposal. “We need to not even think about this. We need to vote on a gravel pit and get on with it.”

Dozens of residents attended Monday's Planning Commission meeting, with the vast majority of those who spoke supporting the pit or Laughlin and Heck's business practices.

“I think if you ask anyone if they want a gravel pit in their backyard, the answer is ‘no,’” said resident Ashlee Carlson, who spoke in support of moving the pit’s access to the future road. “If you’re going to have one, I’ve got to say, the owners here have done a great job of addressing a lot of the community’s concerns.”

Mat-Su residents who want to appeal the borough's permit approval must do so within 21 days, borough officials said.

The expected state driveway permit approval date was not immediately available.

— Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com