Camden Says It Can't Enforce Revoked B&M Mine Permit as Ponderosa Neighbors Press for Answers

CAMDEN, N.C. — Camden County says it cannot enforce the revoked permit for the B&M sand pit off Ponderosa Drive, even as neighbors tell commissioners the mine keeps operating, and their complaints go unanswered.

"The Special Use Permit is no longer binding, and we cannot enforce a permit that is not binding," County Manager Erin Burke wrote in an Oct. 6 letter to Ponderosa Drive resident Angela Wickens. The Tribune obtained the letter.

In March, the county attorney wrote that B&M was expected to comply with the permit's conditions while enforcement was on hold. The October letter keeps that expectation but says the permit is no longer binding.

What the county wrote

Burke's letter says B&M's special use permit, issued in 2016, was revoked and is no longer active, and that any continued operations "are not subject to" it. The letter says the county is under a stay of enforcement under state law, N.C.G.S. 160D-1402.

The letter also says the county "does hold the expectation" that the landowner will comply with the former permit's conditions while the stay is in effect. It then says the county cannot enforce a permit that is not binding.

In a March 16 letter to B&M's attorney, County Attorney Lauren Arizaga-Womble wrote that the county would treat the company's appeal of the board's Jan. 29 revocation as triggering an automatic stay. She wrote that B&M was nonetheless expected to comply with the permit, including the posted 10 mph limit for heavy equipment and trucks on Ponderosa Road.

"We cannot enforce a permit that is not binding."

— County Manager Erin Burke, Oct. 6 letter

A question about hours

Wickens had asked the county Sept. 21 to interpret what counts as operating under the permit's hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, such as employees arriving and starting equipment, she wrote. Burke's letter said planning staff could not interpret the permit because it is no longer active.

In an Oct. 13 email to Burke, the county attorney, planning staff and commissioners, Wickens called the county's position inconsistent. "My original request remains unanswered," she wrote, and she asked what changed between the March and October letters.

As of Oct. 21, the county had not replied, Derrill Wickens said in an email to the Tribune.

New permit application expected

Burke wrote that B&M held a neighborhood meeting Sept. 23, a required step before applying for a new special use permit. Planning staff expect an application "sometime in the near future," the letter says, and notices will be posted on site, mailed, and published.

No application had been filed as of Oct. 13, Wickens wrote.

21 inquiries in 63 days

At the board's Oct. 5 meeting, Derrill Wickens of Ponderosa Drive told commissioners residents had filed about 21 formal inquiries with the county in 63 days. He said the code enforcement complaints, appeal status requests, interpretation requests, and a safety report had gone largely unanswered.

"Despite the revocation, our daily reality over the past 12 months has not changed," he said. He described mineral dust blowing onto homes, pumps running day and night, work outside permitted hours and heavy trucks blocking the narrow road.

"Over the recent three-week count, residents documented 1,026 heavy trucks averaging 68 commercial vehicles daily passing our homes," he said.

He asked the board to direct staff to answer all 21 requests in writing and to put a staff update on the next agenda. The board took no action. Commissioners next meet Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

Reporting note: This story is based on an Oct. 6, 2026, letter from the Camden County manager, a March 16, 2026, letter from the county attorney, an Oct. 13, 2026, email from Angela Wickens to county officials, and public comment at the Board of Commissioners' Oct. 5, 2026, meeting. Descriptions of conditions at the site and the truck count are residents' own accounts.

Continue following this story

• Camden Told B&M It Was Expected to Follow Mine Permit; Residents Still Await Enforcement Answers
• B&M Schedules Mining-Permit Meeting; Camden Says No Application Is on File