Commission completes denial of quarry
The mine, which was hotly debated in Southwest County for the past six years, was expected to produce up to 5 million tons of aggregate rock material at maximum production.
The vote was 4-1, with Commissioner James Porras dissenting. The decision was reached after the commission went page by page through the draft copy of its denial findings.
Most of the changes were cosmetic ---- a changed word here, adding context there ---- but there was a more serious discussion related to the benefits of the project listed in the findings. After some debate, the commission scrubbed most mention of the benefits from the document.
Those benefits, the commission argued, should not be included because they couldn't be verified as fact. Nor did they reflect the commission's conclusions, which held that the project is incompatible with neighboring land uses and would be an environmental injustice against the county because most of the aggregate would be headed to San Diego County.
Petty said he didn't think there were any benefits that should be included in the commission's document.
"If it was up to me ... I'd delete all of the alleged benefits," he said.
Other members, however, felt the section should be reworked instead of scrapped. A compromise was reached: The section heading was changed so that it read, "benefits as listed in the (Environmental Impact Report) and by the applicant."
And many of the specific numbers were removed.
For example, instead of stating that the "mine would meet 40 percent of all Western Riverside County aggregate needs" the document now reads "the mine would meet some of Western Riverside County's aggregate needs."
After the 33 pages of findings were edited to their satisfaction, the commissioners voted on the denial. In a separate action, the panel decided not to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors explaining its rationale.
Instead, the individual members, if they so desire, will be sending letters that contain their thoughts on the project and the findings.
Commissioner John Petty made it clear that his letter would be quite lengthy, adding in his comments and information that was provided by the city of Temecula and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.
The tribe has said the mine would destroy land that is tied to its creation story. It has introduced legislation that would allow it to block mining projects near its sacred sites.
Granite officials met with tribal leaders in an attempt to address the tribe's concerns, but no agreement was reached.
No one from Granite spoke at the meeting.
Company spokeswoman Karie Reuther said earlier this week that Granite was looking forward to seeing the denial made final so it could appeal the decision to the Board of Supervisors, which will have the final say.
The crowd for Wednesday's hearing numbered in the dozens, a far cry from the thousand-plus people who attended commission meetings that were held in Temecula earlier this year.
Fred Bartz, president of Clean Air Temecula, said he and the other folks who drove north for the meeting were happy with the outcome, which was clear by their applause after the vote
"I really thought they wanted to be very careful the proper benefits and conclusions were included in the draft," he said, talking about the commission's lengthy review of the denial findings.
Totaling the commission's various hearings and meetings, county planning staff determined that the commission listened to more than 50 hours of public testimony and received hundreds of pieces of mailed correspondence.
That information was boiled down in the findings so that what was included was the testimony that led the Planning Commission to their conclusions, said Matt Straite, a county project planner.
Reuther dismissed those conclusions in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon, saying the commission's findings are not supported by the county's planning staff, technical reports and scientific studies.
"They all show the project would clearly benefit Riverside County with new jobs, additional revenue and cleaner air," she said.
According to the county's report on the project, trucks that now stream south through Riverside County to the San Diego market from quarries in the Corona area and other points north of Temecula/Murrieta would be removed from the county's roads, removing the pollution produced by those rigs.
Project opponents and members of the commission dispute that finding, saying it is based on flawed traffic studies and assumptions that might change when the market for aggregate changes.
During the meeting, Porras said he didn't give much weight to worrying about changing market forces, noting that all projects brought before the commission could see their business models or results change in the future.
Reuther said Northern California-based Granite is looking forward to having its appeal heard by the Board of Supervisors, which will conduct hearings allowing folks for and against the project to weigh in once again.
"It's as if the Planning Commission hearing never happened. Essentially, it all starts over," she said.
Granite project manager Gary Johnson said the appeal will be filed within a week.
