The Gallatin City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday night during a work study session to defer until March 2 a decision on an ordinance that would amend the city’s zoning ordinance and not allow mining and quarrying extractive activities in the city of Gallatin, its planning region and its urban growth boundaries.

“The council voted to defer the decision until March 2 for second reading,” said Tony Allers, director of the city’s Codes and Planning Department. “Included in that vote was the understanding the council would also vote on another ordinance that would require the establishment of quarry and mining districts.”

Before the vote was taken Tuesday, several local residents spoke to the council, asking them to either approve the ordinance or not.

The property in question is in the Odoms Bend area, just off of Highway 109, north of the bridge that connects Sumner County with Wilson County.

If the initial ordinance is passed, companies looking to open mining activities or a quarry would not be able to establish such activity in the city, the planning region or the urban growth boundary. If the ordinance does not pass, companies looking to open mining activities or a quarry would be able to file for a permit.

“If the council votes to pass the ordinance, quarries and mining are done. They will not be allowed,” said Allers. “After voting on that ordinance, the council will then vote on the QMOD (Quarry Mining Operation District) ordinance.

“That ordinance would establish that districts would have to be created if the applicant wanted to open a quarry or begin mining activities. It is a five-page ordinance, very substantial and I would hope it would be one of the toughest in the state.”

Allers said the council would have two decisions to make on March 2. Council members could pass the initial ordinance and then also pass the QMOD ordinance. If the council does not pass the quarry and mining ordinance, allowing quarries, then they would not have to pass the QMOD ordinance because it would be moot.

Allers said if the QMOD ordinance is passed, it still does not guarantee mining or quarrying activities will be allowed. Someone asking for a permit would have to get approval from the city planning commission and the city council.

“By passing the ordinance, it allows both the planning commission and the city council to be involved in the process,” Allers explained. “It could go either way. The planning commission could approve the permit, but the council could vote it down. The planning commission could not approve the permit, but the city council could vote to approve it. Under that ordinance, the city council has the final vote.”

“I liked the council’s decision to put off the vote until March 2. I don’t think it is fairkeep people in limbo, sitting out there wondering what’s going to happen. Now they know a decision will be made on March 2,” Allers explained. “The first reading of the QMOD ordinance will take place Feb. 2 and the planning commission will study it Feb. 8. There will be a public hearing on the ordinance on Feb. 16 and then the council will vote on both ordinances on March. 2.”

The public discussion Tuesday concerning the mining and quarrying ordinance got heated at times. Elaine Cardoza, who lives in the Odoms Bend area and has been to several council meetings, voiced her strong concerns about the council reaching out to control property outside the city. After setting out a time line for how she heard of the ordinance, she asked the council to vote down the ordinance.

Larry Maynard, who also lives in the Odoms Bend area, asked the council to pass the ordinance, saying he did not want a “rock quarry in his neighborhood.”

David Chapman, a neighbor of Larry Maynard’s, said the council had a moral obligation to do “what the majority of the citizens want and the majority of the citizens don’t want a quarry in their neighborhood.”

Chapman also said he wondered why people opposing the ordinance say they don’t know if a rock quarry is coming or not because the proposed ordinance would only ban quarries.

“If they don’t know a quarry is coming, why would they oppose an ordinance that bans only quarries,” Chapman said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”