Photo by Ashley Low
Since a state board denied Peak Materials’ application for a gravel mining permit at the Hillyard property in April, neighbors have been left with many questions about what the property’s future might hold.
Jonathan Knopf, president of Friends of the Lower Blue River and a neighbor to the property, said he and other neighbors have expressed interest in purchasing the property from Peak Materials both before and after the permit was denied.
“They know what we’d like to accomplish,” Knopf said. “We more or less need to see what they do.”
Initially, a group of neighbors made a counteroffer to Julie Hillyard when she was selling the property an initiative led by neighbor Ken Brown, Knopf said.
Photo from Peak Materials Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include accurate information about the location of the Peak Ranch Resource Project.
, including preliminary review comments from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, comments from Summit County and 142 objection letters.
The company is currently in the permitting process with the state. If the permits are awarded, Peak Materials will then have to obtain two permits from Summit County before the project can begin: one to mine materials on the 75-acre Hillyard property, which is about seven miles north of Silverthorne, and one to import the materials to the company’s Maryland Creek Ranch facility about 11 miles south of the mining site.