(La Porte County, IN) - After nearly a decade of fighting, the digging of sand could be over for good in a La Porte County neighborhood as the La Porte County Commissioners Wednesday gave final approval to a settlement agreement with the landowner, D & M Excavating.
Under the agreement, the owner will attempt to sell the land, along Schultz Road near U.S. 35 a few miles north of La Porte, and stop worker orders on the property won’t be lifted until the sale becomes official.
Nearby homeowners like Randy Veatch stood up and applauded the decision by the commissioners, having previously complained primarily about noise, dust, and roads damaged due to trucks hauling sand off the property from what they alleged was an industrial sand mine operating in a residentially zoned area.
“Can you imagine that happening eight hours a day, every day, five days a week and that’s all you're hearing,” he said.
La Porte County government attorney Scott Pejic said the sale must be to a party unaffiliated with the owner.
“Hopefully, we’ll be done with all of his litigation surrounding sand removal in this area,” he said.
Pejic said both sides came together after Porter County Judge Jeffrey Clymer, in 2023, upheld the stop-work orders.
Initially, owner Ryan Miller claimed he was digging sand to create a pond for a dream home he wanted to build for himself, only to then several years later submit plans for a 40-unit subdivision to be constructed in phases on the property. Residents alleged his plans were just a cover to keep mining sand under a loophole in the county government zoning ordinance.
The county government issued the first stop work order on the property in 2015, several months after the digging started. Other stop-work orders were issued by the county government in 2019, 2020, and 2022 because the activity at some point always resumed. The matter was finally taken to court where Judge Clymer agreed the purpose of the activity was for the delivery of sand to paying customers.
Since the court issued the stop work order, Veatch said his life at home has become peaceful again in a residential but somewhat rural area, just like it was after he bought the property in 2000.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said.
