Gravel-Pit Dispute Splits Businesses -- Longtimers Support Miles Family

-- AUBURN

A group of business owners has rallied to the defense of embattled gravel-pit owner Frank Miles, whose mining operation has been shut down by the city because of alleged permit violations.

The defenders, nearly all longtime Auburn business people with ties to the Miles family, have used the opportunity to vent broader frustrations with what they call the city's "anti-business" stance.

"This (the shutdown) has sent a cold chill through the industrial community," said Jim Schack, Miles' stepbrother and president of Utility Vault Co.

"The bottom line is we deeply resent the attitude the city is taking - specifically the mayor - in wielding power. . . . It just makes me so mad!"

Schack, whose business builds concrete foundations for power utilities, buys sand and gravel from Miles to make concrete.

Miles is banned from digging but is allowed to process gravel that is stockpiled or brought to the site.

If Miles isn't allowed to continue mining, Schack worries the local gravel supply will run out and businesses will have to import gravel at considerably higher cost.

About half a dozen business people turned out at an Auburn City Council meeting last week to voice concerns about work stoppage at the pit, which lies just south of Highway 18.

CITY ISN'T BENDING

But city officials show no signs of bending.

"All we have asked is that the regulations be followed," said city planning director Steve Lancaster, adding that the city allowed the mine to operate without a permit for months before issuing the order.

Among other problems, the city says the firm has been digging deeper than its permit allowed, exposing the ground water.

City Councilman Rich Wagner said the complaints on Miles' behalf stem from frustration of longtime business people with changing state and city regulations. "There's always going to be some businesses not satisfied with with the laws on the books," he said.

Auburn Mayor Bob Roegner said the critics of the city's actions are "a small group of old-time business people who haven't accepted how the world works. . . . The city government is here to look out for the interests of the community, not to kowtow to a small group."

Wayne Heissermen, president of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, and James Kramlich, chairman of the Auburn Business Improvement Area, defended the mayor, saying relations between the city and business community are good.

The 180-acre Miles Sand and Gravel pit has been the subject of a complex series of disputes since May, when Miles' 10-year operating permit with the city expired before a new permit had been granted.

Miles submitted an application for a new permit in October, but it did not pass muster with city planners, who ordered the mine to cease all operations until a full environmental review is complete.

GRAVEL MINE'S TRANSFER

Further complicating the issue is Miles' announcement this fall that in the next few months he will transfer ownership of the gravel mine to the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. Miles plans to lease back the land in order to continue mining.

The announcement raised fears among city officials that they would lose planning authority over the operation.

Meanwhile, residents complain that the dust and noise from the pit makes life miserable in the adjoining neighborhoods.

Miles' defenders say the disputes should be worked out in negotiations, and add there's no reason why mining shouldn't continue in the meantime.

"This (the shutdown) is an unreasonable approach," said Frank Shaughnessey, a lifetime Auburn resident who recently sold his building-moving firm in town. "The administration feels its point in life is to regulate and control."

Shaughnessey, like other Miles' defenders, is a friend and business associate of the Miles family.

The business was started by the late Walt Miles, who provided concrete for a World War II military supply depot in Auburn, according to family friends and his grandson, also named Walt Miles.

YOUNGER ONES TAKING OVER

The younger Walt Miles and his sister, Lisa Kittilsby, are gradually taking over the business from Frank Miles, their father.

The Miles family has been tight-lipped, but Walt Miles said the family is grateful for the support it's receiving from loyal friends.

"The gravel business is like a farm," said Schack. "He (Frank Miles) grew up there. He was born on that gravel pit. His family roots are there. This is just like telling a farmer, `Why have a dairy farm? Why not put warehouses up here?' "

An Auburn City hearing examiner will hear Miles' appeal of the call for an environmental review of the pit this month. The meeting is 7 p.m. Dec. 16 in City Hall, 25 W. Main St.