It took two

votes and a clarification by the county attorney, but the Coweta County

Commission finally decided Tuesday morning to deny the majority of Vulcan

Construction's request to expand its rock quarry on Elzie Johnson Road.

The company

had requested nearly 43 acres be rezoned to M-Industrial and granted special

use permits for mineral extraction to expand their operations. Vulcan

also requested that 24 acres already zoned industrial be granted a special

use permit for mineral extraction.

The zoning

requests had come under heavy fire from residents on Elzie Johnson Road

and nearby Arbor Springs, who complained the quarry is already causing

too much noise.

When the vote

was finally taken Tuesday morning, it came after a testy debate among

the commission.

Vulcan's attorneys

had asked that the matter be delayed again, because they said they were

still working with community leaders on expanding buffering around the

site.

But Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said the debate had gone on long enough,

and said the county was getting a touchy legal situation by prolonging

the issue.

Hunter was

referring to a meeting that occurred in the commission chambers earlier

in the week that included Vulcan representatives, county staff and Commissioner

Leigh Schlumper.

"There

are meetings taking place that are inappropriate," Hunter said.

Schlumper said

she was just trying to work out a compromise between the residents and

the county to ensure the residents got the best possible deal from the

company.

But Commission

Chairman Robert Wood said he would not take into consideration anything

that took place at meetings after the public hearings were concluded last

month.

"Zoning

is the most sacred thing that we do up here," he said.

With the majority

of commissioners saying they preferred not to wait on the zoning, Schlumper

made a motion to deny the zoning requests.

The measure

passed 3-2 with Wood, Schlumper and Commissioner Lawrence Nelms supporting

it, and Hunter and Commissioner Jim McGuffey voting against it.

McGuffey said

he voted against it because the planner had recommended denying the zoning

for the first three tracts, but allowing the special use permit for the

site closest to the quarry.

Schlumper rescinded

her initial motion, which County Attorney Mitch Powell said she could

do, and then made a motion to follow the planner's exact recommendations,

which then passed unanimously.