The Citrus County Commission on Tuesday denied a request for a new mine that would be adjacent to the historic Red Level cemetery.

Nature Coast Development had sought approval for a new 150-acre mine near the cemetery, which has been there since the 1800s. The company is owned by Citrus County businessman Steve Lamb.

The vote was 4-1, with commission chairman Dennis Damato voting in favor of the request.

According to county staff's presentation at the meeting, the property owner had addressed wetland mitigation issues, and the limerock mine would be set back 200 feet feet from residences near the property and 400 feet from the cemetery.

Clark Stillwell, attorney for the applicant, said that the owner had agreed to a number of concessions, including a provision that only allowed blasting once a month. Further, he said, the company would not blast one day before a funeral, the day of a funeral and one day after a funeral "out of respect." He said that blasting would be done no closer than 500 feet from the cemetery, but mining known as "stripping" would be performed within 200 feet of the cemetery.

During the county staff's presentation, it was noted that the Historical Resources Advisory Board was opposed to the mine's operation so close to the cemetery; however, if the county did approve the application that the setback from the county allow 500 feet of space between the mine and cemetery instead of 200 feet. The board also recommended that the cemetery be classified as a "park," a thought rejected by Assistant County Attorney Peter Aare, who said the cemetery did not meet the definition of a park.

Residents from the Red Level area and beyond poured into the commission's chambers to speak their minds, and the commissioners got their ears filled with a variety of reasons why residents and other members of the public believed that the mine should not be approved.

During rebuttal, Stillwell said he had been in the county since 1975 and has known some of the Red Level residents for 35 years. "This is not easy," he said. "But I am asking you to apply the rule of law - not fall into that trap of emotions. Not fall into a popularity contest - a vote of how many people stick their hands up in the air. That type of planning ceased in the mid-1980s."

Stillwell said the company had offered several concessions and had been met with such attitudes as "not in my neighborhood."

During commission discussion, four of the commissioners expressed opposition to the company's application.

Commissioner Winn Webb said the commission had to perform a balancing act, one which weighed the rights of both parties. Both parties, he said, had a right to use their properties, and the commission had to decide what was in the best interests of each. He also said that one of the red flags for him was that it appeared to him that the property for the proposed land was too small. He said there was also going to be a financial effect on both of the properties which, he said, he thought would not be negligible over a period of time, and that there was no county water lines running to the area to allow the mining osmosis operations.

"I just have to go with the right and wrong of this, and I just think it's wrong. I can't support this," Webb said.

Commissioner J.J. Kenney said that an issue for him was that the setback was initially set when the property was purchased, then was later changed. "He knew what he bought when he bought it," Kenney said of Lamb. "And I think this will intrude. Everyone has a right of quiet enjoyment. That quiet enjoyment doesn't include mining (and) blasting, (and) I just don't think it's the right decision to make," Kenney said. "I stand shoulder-to shoulder with Commissioner Webb in saying I will not support this."

Commissioner Joe Meek said that for him the application, in its present form, was not compatible with the immediate surrounding property owners, and because of that fact he would not support approval of the application.

Commissioner Rebecca Bays said she agreed with Meek. "It is our job to look at the rules. And it's not compatible, so it does not get my support." She added that a balance must be struck between Nature and man, but that the proposed mine was not that balance.

Commissioner Dennis Damato, who voted in favor of approving the application, said that he proposed an additional provision be added to divert vehicle traffic to the proposed mine onto less intrusive thoroughfares.

"I believe I am the only commissioner on this current board to have participated for one year in discussions before the BOCC - during 2006 and 2007," Damato said. "I understand both sides of these issues very well. My position then was we should never regulate mining on setback alone, but rather on performance-based standards. I feel the same way today."

Damato said that, based on the facts and testimony heard by the commission that logic dictated the company's proposal was based on fact-based evidence, laws and science - and not on emotion.

He said the company should therefore be "given a chance" because it had complied with performance-based standards.

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