The Surface Mining District is established as a district in which the only permitted uses are surface mining and agricultural and those accessory uses as are necessary to the operation of surface mining activities. Due to the potentially adverse impact of surface mining operations, such activity must be restricted to an exclusive district in order to protect the public health and safety, ensure compatibility with adjacent land uses, protect and preserve natural resources such as prime farmland, and promote public welfare.
Surface mining (strip mining) shall be defined as the breaking of the soil in order to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals, ores, or other solid matter; any activity or process constituting all or part of a process for the extraction or removal of minerals, ores, and other solid matter from its original location; and the preparation, washing, cleaning or other treatment of minerals, ores, or other solid matter so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use; but shall not include the extraction of coal by a landowner for his own noncommercial use from land owned or leased by him; the extraction of coal as an incidental part of federal, state or local government financed highway or other construction under regulations established by the department nor shall it include the surface effects or surface impacts of underground coal mining.
No person shall engage in surface mining operations without having first obtained a permit from the County of Henderson in accordance with Article XXVII, Surface Mining Regulations.
Surface mining of land is a limited-duration use, and once such use is terminated, the site shall revert to its original zoning classification.
A. 
The use of land for surface mining shall be considered terminated when all requirements of the surface mining regulations have been fulfilled and the bond has been released in full by the County.
B. 
Alternative post-mining land use. In the case where an alternative post-mining land use is approved in accordance with § 27.06D, the tract shall be rezoned to an appropriate classification upon termination of surface mining operations. The procedures for amendments to the Zoning Ordinance established in Article VII shall apply.