The Gravel Next Door

By Robert Stuckman, 2-11-08

	Caption: Photo by Anne Medley.

Last summer massive gravel trucks rumbled and thundered away the peaceful early morning, every morning, on Paul Matteuci’s picturesque riverfront acreage in Montana’s Gallatin Valley.

“A county road bisects my property,” Matteuci said. “A gravel truck came by about every five minutes from 5 a.m. to dark.”

The noise sucked, sure, but the traffic hazard was downright dangerous. The Silicon Valley entrepreneur had found the place appealing, in part, because of the romantic notion that his 4-year-old could run out the front door without being supervised every second.

“The porch is 30 yards from the road,” Matteuci said.

And the caretaker for the property has six kids, and his family’s front door is even closer.

It got so bad Matteuci considered putting his part-time retreat on the market. He’s owned it for about 13 years. Instead, he got involved with neighbors on an emergency zoning ordinance.

“It’s my silent dream to rent a gravel truck and drive it around the homes of the county commissioners, starting at five in the morning,” Matteuci said. “It would be perfectly legal. I want to give them a gut sense of what it’s like.”

Gravel is the foundation, literally, of growth. Beds of gravel lie beneath every building, roadway and sidewalk. It’s also a main ingredient in concrete.

And almost everyone hates proposed gravel pits, as well as the massive trucks that haul the loads. It’s one of those wonderful ironies of the West these days. Economics pull growth and gravel together with inexorable force. If hauled more than a few miles, the cartage can easily top the cost of the gravel itself.

Geology plays an important role, too. Glacial moraines and pebbly former riverbeds produce top-notch gravel. We’re talking about meadows and valley floors – the closer to a river the better. Just the kind of place guys like Matteuci adore.

And so neighbors push for emergency zoning to halt new pits. Gallatin County even has a county-wide zoning plan in the works (although it won’t limit gravel pits).

“We’re getting strained dealing with the issues that pop up at the local level,” said Cary Hegreberg, head of the Montana Contractors’ Association. “It’s always the same. ‘We’re not against gravel. We’re just against gravel here.’”

This story first appeared in the preview issue of The New West magazine. For more information on the magazine, or to subscribe, go to www.newwest.net/magazine.