The German Township Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) hosted a public meeting Oct. 13 to review a request by SRM Materials to extract sand and gravel from 30 acres at the northeast corner of Butter Street and Carlisle Pike.

Members of the German Township Board of Zoning Appeals participating in the meeting include president Valorie Hill, Pete Lurker, Marty Cox and William Heistand. The Board was joined by German Township zoning inspector Janet Burton and Jen Huber, a lawyer hired by the Township. Due to the expected crowd, about 50 attended, the meeting was held at the Germantown Methodist Church.

An SRM Materials representative from Tennessee and the company’s local attorney spoke at the meeting, along with community members with homes in the area.

The map below shows the parcel under consideration for mining.

SRM Makes an Appeal
Richard O’Shields, senior vice president of real estate at SRM traveled from Tennessee to attend the meeting and address the BZA.

“We're a family-owned company,” he said of SRM. “We've been around since 1999. We we have three owners. That's it. We don't have shareholders. We don't have a board that we listen to.”

“We also are a little bit different because, being the largest ready mix provider in the country, we go above and beyond what the state and federal regulations are for our sites, for our batch plants and for our quarries,” he said.

SRM’s local attorney, Michael McNamee of Beavercreek walked the BZA through a list of possible conditions that had been shared with the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office. Under Ohio law, the county prosecuting attorney serves as the legal advisor for all township officers, boards, and commissions.

McNamee emphasized that the court ruling on this case had recognized that the BZA could make conditions based on public health and safety, which in legal terms means risks or injury, or harm to health. He said general welfare conditions are not permitted, per the court ruling, which includes convenience, comfort and aesthetics.

The conditions document, which McNamee shared with the BZA, and president Valorie Hill noted they were seeing for the first time, includes 15 categories and 40 recommendations.

“You'll see that SRM has agreed to outright to 26 of those conditions,” he said. “There are minor modifications to six of those conditions for a total of 32, which is an 80% approval rate. And there's eight of the conditions that we take exception to, and we explain that in in our review.”

McNamee spoke for nearly 30 minutes at the meeting. SRM agreed to conditions like dust control, cleaning roadways and adding a berm around the 30 acres. They did not agree to fence in the area, plant pine trees, do any pre-construction survey of wells unless required by State law, or to appear before the Township annually for a review of the agreement.

Neighbors Speak Out
SRM said they commissioned a traffic study in the area and the results were included in the BZA packet. James Roland III of Carlisle Pike said he found a tracking device on the stop sign at the Butter Street intersection. He checked with multiple agencies, including the Montgomery County Engineer’s Office and could find no information on who placed it. During the discussion, the dates aligned with the timing of the SRM study. The BZA requested all of the info and photos Roland had collected.

SRM’s plan on road use revolved around crossing Butter Street to enter existing SRM property, but neighbors, including Roland, pointed out in their remarks that there was no approved Butter Street entrance to that property. “There is no entrance from Butter onto the existing gravel pit,” Roland said. “Trucks were going on there illegally. It was called out, and it's since been closed off.”

Mike Osborne of Carlisle Pike joined several neighbors in voicing concerns about local private wells. Citing the Germantown and German Township Joint Economic Development Plan and a Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission Report from 1990, Osborne said the areas around Twin Creek, including areas of the Township and the City of Germantown are highly susceptible to groundwater contamination.

“The Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer is a federally designated sole source aquifer, and because of that, that means this aquifer that supplies the only source of drinking water for 50 percent or more of the local population, and there are no readily available alternatives for drinking water,” he noted.

Land Owner Speaks Out
The 30 acres in question, plus another 100 acres are owned by Harp Ranch LLC. The sale of the land to SRM has been pending while the zoning issue has played out. Seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Arthur Harp now own the land. Owner Holly Ford spoke at the meeting

“As property owners, we believe in the right to make decisions about the land that we own, and that includes the right to sell it to a willing buyer for what we believe is the highest and best use. Our property has been under contract for over three years. We entered into this agreement in good faith, with every intention of completing a legitimate real estate transaction.”

“We certainly never expected it to take this long,” she said, “but we have respected the process. We have allowed it to run its course. The vast majority of this farmland will remain exactly that farmland. The current farmer will continue to farm and to harvest as he has for many, many years. As has been spoke of tonight, a small portion is being proposed for sand and gravel extraction.”

“We completely understand that not everyone here agrees with the proposed use of this property. We respect their right to have that different opinion, but we also believe that our rights as property owners deserve the same respect.”

BZA Next Steps
After hearing commentary for more than two hours, the Board of Zoning Appeals exercised its right to enter into private deliberations, similar to executive session. The Board did not render a ruling, but made requests of SRM for additional information. The BZA will meet again Nov. 10.

Legal History
In a March 2024 decision, the German Township Board of Zoning Appeals denied SRM’s planned expansion on the land, which is currently zoned for agriculture. SRM sued and the case went to the Ohio Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the Montgomery County Appeals Court, which had issued a ruling in favor of SRM in October 2025.

As part of the legal ruling, the BZA no longer has the ability to deny the Conditional Use zoning and may only apply restrictions. German Township Trustees held a special meeting on Aug. 27 to hire legal counsel to support the BZA. They hired Brosius, Johnson and Griggs (BJG Law), and stated in the August meeting that the firm would provide background documents to the BZA and provide guidance at the Oct. 13 meeting.

SRM paid Weidle Corp. $4.5 million for 42 acres in May 2023.

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