Opposition is swelling against the advanced proposal to develop the Stevens Quarry near the Mayo Road Cutoff, just as it did 18 years ago when the proposal was shut down.

A protest petition being circulated has gathered 160 signatories.

As well, area residents and farmers are being asked to flood the mail box of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

Farmer Debbie Last of the Takhini River Road said there is no question allowing the quarry would have a punishing impact on farmers, eco-tourism businesses and country residential homeowners.

In addition to destroying the pristine landscape and view down the river valley, dust from the quarry, carried by the prevailing south wind, would undoubtedly choke the success of hay and other crops grown along the valley, Last insisted.

"It would absolutely affect our livelihood,” she told the Star of her ecotourism-based business and the 200 acres of hay they grow to feed the 20 head of trail riding horses they use.

Last said she understands that gravel is essential for growth in the city, and the further away it has to come from, the more it costs.

But what, she asks, of residents who've invested the time and money in their homes and businesses over the last 20 or 30 years, or longer?

"What is the cost to us?” she said. "Don't we count?”

The petition, Last added, is not only to document support, but to also help raise awareness among area residents and encourage them to make their views known to YESAB.

She said Brad Cathers, the minister of Energy, Mines, and Resources and the area's MLA, recommended residents should make their specific views known to the assessment board.

The city and the Yukon government are proposing to open up what's thought to be one of the largest untapped sources of gravel within city limits.

Since 2010, the city has budgeted $200,000 to advance the project, including $110,000 last fall to bring in a special drill from Alberta to help define exactly how much and where the gravel is. All the funding is coming from the Yukon government.

The assessment board's Whitehorse office has just posted the proposal on its website.

The office will send out its invitation for public comments once it's determined the city has provided all the necessary information, YESAB spokesman Rob Yeomans explained this morning.

The project proposal estimates the Stevens Quarry holds about 2.4 million cubic metres of material. That's equivalent to about 240,000 truck-loads, based on known gravel deposits and deposits that are probably there.

The minimum quarry life is put at somewhere around 10 to 12 years, according to the project proposal.

While in operation, says the proposal, the quarry could supply 50 per cent of the city's gravel needs.

Cathers said Thursday afternoon his position as a member of the territorial cabinet prevents him from sharing his views.

It would be inappropriate to do so before the project proposal runs its course through the screening agency and a recommendation has been provided to the government, he said.

Cathers did emphasize the review process is public, and public input is welcome and encouraged.

But the YESAB process is not a popularity contest, and the board's recommendations are not based on the number of votes for and against, he pointed out.

Cathers said just as YESAB isn't a popularity contest, nor is it a rubber-stamping machine.

Public input, the minister added, is crucial.

Cathers also noted the government can accept, reject or alter recommendations coming from the assessment board, but rarely has it rejected or altered recommendations in any significant way.

Under the rules, a recommendation for a project proposal of this sort will not go to cabinet for a decision. Rather, it will be handled by senior government officials, he explained.

Last and Craig Beatty, who has 140 acres across the river from the proposed quarry area, are of the same mind that the Stevens Quarry was once thought be the city's gold mine of gravel for decades and decades to come.

Numbers show that's not so anymore, they agree.

Last wonders if the government and the city are willing to disrupt the lives of established area residents and businesses for 10 or 12 years' worth of gravel.

Hot Springs Road farmer Nana Lehnherr has about 100 acres of hay and oats she and her husband sell to earn a living, along with providing grazing for about 20 head of cattle belonging to other farmers.

Her crop fields, she said this morning, are 350 metres away from the edge of the proposed quarry.

Lehnherr said there is no question the quality of her oats and hay would be affected by the dust coming off the quarry.

"Dust is really a nuisance that affects a lot,” she said. "It has a lot of impact on the growth of the hay; if there is dust on hay, it cannot grow.

"Cows do not like to have dirt on the grass they are eating, so that is another factor.”

Lehnherr has been largely responsible for circulating and collecting the signatures on the petition by going through the different areas and neighbourhoods in the evening.

With 160 signatures, there are still a number of places she's not visited, like the Ibex Valley community, which would be affected in a huge way, she explained.

She's visited most homes along the Hot Springs Road, and Tuesday night she was going around the MacPherson subdivision.

"Marion Crescent is really close to it,” Lehnherr said of that area in MacPherson closest to the site. "Especially the (quarry) road.

"Every six minutes, there will be a truck coming out of there.”

Lehnherr said at the very, very least, there needs to be some consideration given to reducing the size of the quarry to maintain a hillside buffer between the farms across the river and down the valley.

If it proceeds, she added, the city would need to look closely at reducing the allowable hours of operation to something much more constricted than 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and prohibiting work on weekends and holidays.

Lehnherr said she remembers very well when development of the Stevens Quarry hit the table back in 1994, but was eventually cancelled.

She and her husband had hiked into the area, and Fritz climbed a tree at the edge of the proposed quarry to place a flag in it. The marker could be seen from their deck.

Mickey Fisher – the MLA for the area at the time, a member of the Yukon Party cabinet, and himself a farmer – came to visit and could not believe how close the proposed area is to their property, Lehnherr said.

Within a week, she added, the project was pulled off the table.