NO MINING: Glades Co. rejects sand mine...

MUSE, Fla. — Back in January, Fox 4’s Hendry County Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski reported on the Muse community fighting a proposed sand mine, and “No Muse Mine” signs still line the road. On Tuesday, Glades County commissioners voted the project down.

Since Schargorodski works in these rural communities daily, neighbors called him about the rejection.

The mine had been proposed for 321 acres off Walter Greer Road in Muse. For more than two years, neighbors like Yvonne Doll fought it, saying it didn’t fit their community. She says Tuesday’s decision was huge.

“It’s a victory for Muse. It’s a victory for Glades County,” Doll said.

Doll says their main worries were hundreds of dump trucks a day using a two-lane county road with no shoulders, damage to creeks and the environment, health concerns with silica in the air, and safety issues near West Glades School.

“It saved our environment, saved our creeks, saved our roads, the safety of our children that sit on the side of the roads at the 26 bus stops between West Glades School and the proposed mine,” Doll said.

Aerial view of the land the mine was proposed on

The mining company’s attorney says they believe the property is a good fit because the change would limit future housing, allow more farming, and keep operations in a large, undeveloped area. The company’s land-use planner says they made changes after public feedback, such as moving the main work area more than 3,000 feet from Loblolly Bay Road, adding buffers from homes, and avoiding wetlands.

Ultimately, commissioners voted against the zoning change for the mine, and neighbors say it showed what a tight community can do.

“It kinda felt like our David and Goliath moment,” said Dianne Quigley.

“I’m so grateful the community worked together,” said Constance Lyle.

“It’s unbelievable what a group of people in this little community can do,” said Lynne Kilcoyne.