Lafayette County approves dirt mine with limits, delays Highway 6 project
County Road 313 will get a dirt mine only from 9 a.m. to sunset, while a 117,000-square-foot Highway 6 East project waits for another vote.
Lafayette County has put a tighter leash on a new dirt mine along County Road 313, ordering trucks and excavation to stop at sunset even as it delayed a separate Highway 6 East development that could reshape one of the county’s busiest commuter corridors.
The Board of Supervisors approved the M and K Concrete permit at its June 15 meeting for a 4-acre mine at County Road 313 and County Road 340, but added an operating-hours limit of 9 a.m. to sunset. The Lafayette County Planning Commission had recommended approval with a longer window, from 9 a.m. to midnight, before supervisors narrowed the schedule further.
That change reflects the kind of daily disruption neighbors fear most: heavy trucks on two-lane roads during school runs, morning commutes and evening drive times. Planning commissioner Kate Rosson, who said she lives on County Road 313, raised traffic concerns before the board. Property-tax records place her home about 3.5 miles from the site. Michael Martin, who owns M and K Concrete, told the commission the restriction would interfere with his business and said his family has owned the land for more than 100 years. He also said he expected only two or three trucks a day.
County officials have already shown they can take a different approach on similar projects. On June 1, supervisors approved a separate 4-acre dirt mine on County Road 418 in Fudgetown without any operating-hour restriction, despite objections from nearby residents. The County Road 313 vote stands out because the board chose to pair approval with a stricter schedule, not simply leave the project to operate under the usual workday.
The Highway 6 East proposal went in the opposite direction. Supervisors tabled, rather than approved or denied, a request for a 17-acre site near Campground Road that is zoned A-1 rural. Developer Andrew Callicutt sought C-2 commercial-medium-density use for office and flex space totaling 117,000 square feet of leasable area. County planner Tristan Riddell presented the item, but the board postponed action, leaving the future of the project unresolved.
That delay matters along Highway 6 East, where new offices, flex buildings and industrial-style uses can add turning movements, delivery traffic and pressure on roads already carrying commuters between Oxford, Lafayette County neighborhoods and the West Oxford extension corridor. The question before supervisors is no longer just whether a project fits a zoning map, but how much added traffic nearby roads can absorb without pushing more wear onto local pavement and more delay onto daily trips.
The mine and the Highway 6 proposal sit inside a larger county debate over where Lafayette County wants growth to land. The Max D. Hipp Industrial Park remains at the center of that tension, with residents still weighing industrial expansion against nearby homes, road access and long-term neighborhood stability. For County Road 313, the next step is a mine that can operate only from morning through sunset. For Highway 6 East, the next step is another board decision, and the unanswered questions about traffic, compatibility and timing still matter.
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