By Kjel Jones, independent excavation & dirt-work researcher for Island Park · licensed Idaho real estate agent, LPT Realty

Published 2026-09-01

Digging your own gravel: six acres, two years, and a very wide circle of letters.

Gravel is expensive because it travels, so people ask about digging their own

On a long Island Park driveway the cost of gravel is mostly the cost of moving it. That arithmetic leads to an obvious question: if there is usable material on the property already, can it simply be dug and used? The county has an answer, and it is more permissive than most people expect at the small end and considerably heavier at the large end.

The dividing line is a two-class permit system, and which class you land in is decided by four things rather than by intent.

The prior-use condition is the one that catches people out. Class I is available once. A parcel that has already been worked under a temporary approval cannot come back for another one, which means the easy route is a single-use route rather than a renewable one.

Everyone within three thousand feet gets a letter

Both classes carry the same notification requirement, and its radius is unusually wide.

“For any pit, mine, or quarry requiring a Class I or Class II Permit, the Administrator shall notify all property owners within three thousand feet (3000') of any property boundary of the proposed site and any additional area that may be substantially impacted by the use.”

— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), Appendix J, section 1.03.010, Public Notification. Consolidated through Ordinance 2026-03. Retrieved 1 September 2026

Three thousand feet is well over half a mile, measured from any property boundary rather than from the workings. On the kind of parcel where digging your own gravel looks attractive, that circle usually takes in every neighbour you have and a good many you do not know. And the notice is not limited to that radius — it extends to any additional area that may be substantially impacted.

This is worth understanding before the idea gets far. Even the small permit is a public process, not a quiet one.

The operating standards apply while you are working

Approval is not the end of it. Appendix J sets standards that run for the life of the operation, and several of them constrain how a small job can actually be done.

• Hours. All extraction and hauling activities take place during daylight hours between 7:00 A.M. and dusk or 7:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. Weekend hauling is outside that window.
• Noise. The noise level at the property line must not exceed 70 dBA, L-10 at any one time.
• Safety. All operations are subject to MSHA and OSHA safety standards for the conditions and type of excavation performed.
• Outdoor storage. Storage areas must be completely fenced or enclosed and screened from public view, with a sight-obscuring screen at least six feet high.

The Monday-to-Friday limit is the one that most often collides with reality. A landowner planning to move material over a few weekends is planning outside the permitted hours, and on a rural road the hauling is the part the neighbours notice.

Crushing is a separate permission, and it has its own setback

The distinction between digging material and processing it is sharp, and it is where a modest plan becomes a large one.

Asphalt mixing, crushing, manufacturing and concrete batching may be allowed only as accessory uses subject to a separate Class II permit approval process, and only in an industrial zone or as accessory uses to a pit, mine or quarry in a rural zone. In rural zones, any structure or equipment must be a minimum of one thousand feet from any dwelling other than that of the owner or caretaker of the property.

That thousand-foot setback quietly rules out crushing on a great many Island Park parcels. It is measured to any dwelling that is not yours, so it depends on the neighbours' houses rather than on the size of your own ground.

The improvement agreement is not optional

The provision most likely to be underestimated is the improvement agreement, and the code is unusually blunt about its status: it is required of all gravel extractors and is an absolute standard for approval.

It has to address on-site and off-site road improvements, emergency services, water and wastewater protection and disposal, compliance with state and local noxious weed laws, and reclamation and reuse plans and timing, alongside any other conditions the County imposes.

1. The applicant prepares a draft improvement agreement addressing those requirements before the permit's public hearing by the Commission.
2. The Commission holds its public hearing, and any conditions of approval or required changes are incorporated.
3. A final improvement agreement is produced, and it must be approved by the Board before the permit is issued.

Note the sequencing. The agreement is drafted before the hearing and approved before the permit exists, so the commitments about roads, weeds and reclamation are settled at the front of the process rather than negotiated once work is underway.

The off-site road improvements item deserves particular attention on a gravel job, because loaded trucks are hard on rural roads and the agreement is where responsibility for that gets written down. It is the same question that decides whether the county maintains a road at all, approached from the other end.

How to think about it before spending anything

1. Work out whether the job fits inside six acres and two years. If it does, Class I is available — once.
2. Decide whether the material needs crushing. If it does, the small route is unavailable and a thousand-foot setback from every neighbouring dwelling applies.
3. Map the three-thousand-foot circle from your property boundary and look at who is inside it, because all of them will be notified.
4. Check the plan against a Monday-to-Friday, daylight-hours schedule, and against a 70 dBA limit measured at the property line.
5. Start the draft improvement agreement early, since it precedes the hearing and the final version precedes the permit.
6. Price the reclamation and reuse plan as part of the job rather than as an afterthought — it is named in the agreement, and it is the part that continues after the material is gone.
7. Compare the whole of that against simply buying material delivered, which is the honest comparison and the one that what excavation actually costs here exists to support.

For a single driveway the arithmetic usually favours buying. The permit route earns its keep on larger holdings, longer projects, and ground where the haul distance is genuinely punishing — and knowing which of those you are in is a decision better made before the notification letters go out than after.

Common questions

Can I dig gravel on my own property in Fremont County?

Gravel mines, pit mines and quarries require a permit. A Class I permit covers small-scale temporary extraction of no more than six acres completed within two years; anything that does not qualify for Class I requires a Class II permit.

How big can a Class I gravel extraction be?

The maximum area of the extraction site is six acres, the activities must be completed within two years, and no rock crushing or other materials manufacturing may be done on site. Stockpiles are limited to fifteen feet above original grade.

Can I get a second Class I permit on the same land?

No. One of the Class I standards is that the property has not been a pit, mine or quarry under a previous temporary approval or as a temporary permitted use. The small-scale route is available once for a given property.

Who gets notified about a gravel pit application?

The Administrator notifies all property owners within three thousand feet of any property boundary of the proposed site, plus any additional area that may be substantially impacted. That applies to both Class I and Class II permits.

What hours can extraction and hauling happen?

All extraction and hauling activities take place during daylight hours between 7:00 A.M. and dusk or 7:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. The noise level at the property line must not exceed 70 dBA, L-10 at any one time.

Can I crush rock on site?

Not under a Class I permit, which is extraction only. Crushing, asphalt mixing, manufacturing and concrete batching require a separate Class II approval and, in a rural zone, must be at least one thousand feet from any dwelling other than the owner's or caretaker's.

How tall can stockpiles be?

Fifteen feet above original grade under a Class I permit and twenty-five feet above original grade under a Class II permit.

Is an improvement agreement really required?

Yes. The code states an improvement agreement is required of all gravel extractors and is an absolute standard for approval. It must address road improvements, emergency services, water and wastewater protection, noxious weed compliance, and reclamation and reuse.

When is the improvement agreement finalised?

A draft is prepared before the Commission's public hearing, conditions of approval are then incorporated, and the final agreement must be approved by the Board before the permit is issued.