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Reprinted with permission from
The Courier=Times Online
A company that has its origins in Buffalo, N. Y. more than 50 years ago but which has been doing business in North Carolina for the past 20, proposes to expand its operation into Person County.
Although its plan still must pass muster with the Person Board of County Commissioners, Carolina Sunrock LLC, based in nearby Butner, hopes to establish a three-element construction materials operation on a 312-acre tract off Woodsdale Road north of Roxboro. The operation would include separate asphalt, concrete and stone processing plants, plus an open pit quarry from which the company would mine its own raw materials.
The Sunrock operation would represent an investment in excess of $5 million and create more than 50 new jobs once all three facilities were completed, according to Bryan Pfohl, Sunrock chairman.
Thursday night, the Person County Planning Board, by unanimous vote, gave a favorable recommendation to Sunrock’s petition for a special use permit for the proposed Person County operation. That action sends the petition on to the county commissioners, who must conduct a public hearing of their own and then decide whether to issue the permit. That action could come as early as next month.
The planning board, during its public hearing Thursday night, heard from some residents who live nearby the proposed Sunrock site; they voiced concerns about potential truck traffic and noise from trucks and/or the operation. Some also questioned whether groundwater monitoring wells at the quarry might affect their water wells.
The Sunrock operation would be obliged to meet strict safety and environmental regulations in order to gain a series of state permits that would be required before it could begin.
For its quarry operation, the company would need a mining permit issued by the Land Quality Section of the state Division of Land Resources.
The operation also would require appropriate permits from the state Division of Air Quality and the Division of Water Quality.
In a prepared release issued Friday, Sunrock said it had entered into an agreement with Hall’s Agri-Business LLC and the Hall and Berryhill families in Person County to secure property in the Woodsdale area.
Pfohl said, “We selected Person County for our proposed expansion due to the availability of raw materials, its proximity to our market area and the cooperation accorded to us by local government officials.”
Pfohl added, “The area has a pro-business attitude, and Sunrock is extremely excited to participate in the future growth and economic development of Person County.”
Sunrock said the stone processing, asphalt and concrete facilities would be constructed separately on the site, and the company would quarry its own materials on site, subject to the necessary permits
The site plan for the operation indicates that the initial open pit quarry would encompass approximately 12 acres of the total tract.
Sunrock already has construction materials operations in Kittrell, Durham, Wake Forest and at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, and it employs more than 160 people.
Commenting on the proposed Sunrock operation, Glen Newsome, executive director of the Person County Economic Development Commission, told The Courier-Times on Friday, “We feel this is a good project for our area with a very positive economic impact. In addition to creating new jobs and investment for the community, the company will also invest in the range of $1 million annually in local goods and services. We look forward to working with the officials of Sunrock to bring this project to fruition.”
Sunrock originated in Buffalo, N. Y. following World War II, when the Pfohl brothers Joseph, Paul and Fidelis joined together to form a sand and gravel business. By 1957, Pfohl Bros Inc. had opened is first quarry and was actively producing stone and hot mix asphalt products.
In 1984, Bryan Pfohl, Joseph’s son and current Sunrock chairman, expanded the business to North Carolina, and the newly-formed Carolina Sunrock Corp. opened its initial North Carolina quarry at Butner.
As the company refocused on the Southeast, its New York operations were sold off in 2000, and a new holding company formed, The Sunrock Group.