FAYETTEVILLE -- A proposed red dirt pit won't be opened west of Fayetteville after the Washington County Quorum Court's vote Thursday.

The Quorum Court denied an appeal from Benny Holtzclaw and his associates, who want to mine red dirt used for road and building construction off of Harmon Road west of Fayetteville. County planners denied the preliminary permit for the project in November.

Only Joe Patterson, Republican of District 5 in the county's northeast, voted for the project. Joel Maxwell, Republican of Siloam Springs, abstained.

About 50 people living near the project's intended site attended the meeting, most of them opposed to the project. The back-and-forth last four hours and pitted property rights against public safety.

Holtzclaw, who heads Holtzclaw Excavating, said he intends to flatten a 9-acre hill of the dirt on land owned by Mark Rich. The site is less than a mile north of West Wedington Drive. The project would improve the land and fulfill a growing need for red dirt in the area, he and his supporters said.

"You guys are sitting on our red dirt right now," Holtzclaw said, referring to the county courthouse. "There's just a great need for this."

Planners denied the permit last year for a variety of reasons, including safety and compatibility with the surrounding area. The planners and opponents took particular issue with the private road that would be used by the trucks carrying away the dirt. It intersects with Harmon just north of a curve that would prevent the trucks and northbound traffic from seeing each other at a safe distance, they said.

Many worried this blindness could prove fatal for teens, school bus drivers and others coming down the 45-mph zone, which also slopes downward toward the intersection in question.

"Ninety percent of the people here tonight have no objection to Mark Rich mining his land," said Dick Johnson, who said he has lived nearby for 40 years. "We don't complain about much. We just want our people safe."

Mike Kelly, an engineer working for Holtzclaw, said the road's speed limit should be lowered because of its slope and shape, which would make the intersection safer. Several other dirt pits and a rock quarry sit within a short distance as well, he said.

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Washington County Quorum Court denies red dirt pit permit