About 150 people packed into the City-County Building's commission chambers Wednesday night to discuss proposed citizen-initiated zoning regulations targeting Helena Sand & Gravel's newly minted gravel pit north of East Helena.

Scores of company employees wearing bright safety vests filled the seats in a show of solidarity for their employer, while dozens of residents approached the podium to speak out against an operation they say endangers their health and impacts their property values.

The state Department of Environmental Quality's issuance of a permit for the gravel pit Wednesday afternoon nixed efforts by citizens to bar the mine's development by zoning, but residents urged members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, which includes all three Lewis and Clark County commissioners, to approve the regulations.

The zoning regulations, if approved, could prevent the company from eventually expanding its operation from the current 111-acre permitted area to the entire property, which covers more than 400 acres.

County commissioners initially had planned to rule on the regulations today, but on the advice of county attorneys decided to delay the decision. Written public comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. June 10, and the Planning and Zoning Commission will make its decision June 11. County commissioners will consider the rules June 19.

The proposed regulations would, among other things, ban mining operations in the district.

Helena Sand & Gravel Vice President Scott Olsen suggested amending the rules to allow mining by conditional-use permits. The company would then submit an application and undergo an additional public process in order to obtain the permit, he said.

In exchange for the compromise, Olsen promised the company would not apply to expand the gravel pit for at least three years.

The majority of comments at the meeting were in support of the rules, though some Helena Sand & Gravel employees and residents who live near the company's current site spoke against the rules and in favor of the company.

"I'm concerned that they won't be a good neighbor," resident Joe Nye said. "I'd like them to prove me wrong."

Nye said the company chose to apply for a permit for the 111-acre site at the center of its property only because it creates a 1,000-foot buffer from nearby landowners -- freeing the company from a requirement to send notices to adjacent landowners.

Olsen, in an interview, said it has become common practice for the industry in Montana to use the 1,000-foot buffer to avoid contacting neighbors.

Valley Drive resident Mike Sedlock said he's tired of hearing the company's neighborly promises.

"They are there like any other corporation to make money and turn a profit for their shareholders," he said. "I think they're an arrogant company."

Residents said they've already seen the company's trucks pulling out into traffic from its current site on Canyon Ferry Road, and they worry its new development, located between Valley and Lake Helena drives, will increase dangers on their roads.

They also worry dust laced with lead, cadmium, arsenic and other pollutants will harm the health of senior citizens and children.

Several speakers bristled at the notion that their opposition was a simple not-in-my-backyard attitude, and said their battle centered on very real environmental concerns.

While one man who lives near the current Canyon Ferry Road site said he's often bothered by odors coming from the company's asphalt plant, other neighbors said they've had good relations with the company and haven't experienced any problems.

"Helena Sand & Gravel is an exceptionally good neighbor," Larry Holman said. He said he's never been bothered by dust or noise from the gravel pit located near his home.

"The East Helena valley has had a bellyful of environmentally unsafe companies," company employee and lifetime East Helena resident Mike Copeland said. "But Helena Sand & Gravel is not that company. I know for a fact that Helena Sand & Gravel will leave this land better than they found it."

Comment period

Written public comments on proposed citizen-initiated zoning regulations, which could affect a gravel pit north of East Helena, will be accepted until 5 p.m. June 10, and the Planning and Zoning Commission will make its decision June 11. County commissioners will consider the rules June 19.

Written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. June 10. E-mail comments to etinsley@co.lewis-clark.mt.us.

Or send comments to: Planning and Zoning Commission, Lewis and Clark County, 316 N. Park Ave., Helena, MT 59623

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com