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.