Devastating Setback for Temecula: Quarry/Gravel Pit is Approved May 2012

[paramount]

In a great victory for monied interests and their scum politicians, a major blow was dealt to Temecula.

I had a feeling this quarry decision was far from over.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/temecula/temecula-headlines-index/20120516-temecula-quarry-opponents-angry-over-report-certification.ece

“Judas” and “Benedict Arnold” are some of the terms used by Liberty Quarry opponents to describe Riverside County Supervisor John Tavalgione following his vote Tuesday to certify the quarry’s environmental impact report.

On Tuesday, May 15, supervisors Bob Buster, Jeff Stone and Tavaglione voted to formally deny the controversial quarry. Tavaglione then voted alongside supervisors John Benoit and Marion Ashley to approve the environmental document. Approval of that document means that the county accepts Granite’s position that the quarry would improve the local environment by producing aggregate closer to where it would be shipped in San Diego County.

Jonathan Evans, staff attorney for the Center For Biological Diversity, said he has never heard of a governing body denying a project, yet certifying its environmental impact report. He called the board’s action “schizophrenic.”
“It seems like it’s a bizarre decision that leaves the door open for this destructive project,” Evans said, adding that Tavaglione “really wants to give this disastrous quarry another bite at the apple.”

A certified report would make life easier for a new quarry plan.

“They would be able to rely on that (report) for that subsequent application,” Hopper said.
And that, said Jim Mitchell, founder of the Sierra Club San Gorgonio Chapter, is exactly what quarry opponents feared.

“It’s clear to me that Granite is going to be right back. How quickly is anyone’s guess,” Mitchell said. “For that kind of influence to take control of this process is frightening.”

[NotCranky]

I wonder if this is the same granite construction getting 2 million plus to build a bridge replacement over a little seasonal creek in my neck of the woods? The local yokels could do it for a couple of hundred grand. It seems like a lot of money…It is going to take 9 months, mostly because they are hardly ever working on it. Why do they even do expensive environmental reports for these projects like the little bridge that are flat out going to happen anyway? Maybe Harvey knows?

[bearishgurl]

From the OP’s article:

On Tuesday, May 15, supervisors Bob Buster, Jeff Stone and Tavaglione voted to formally deny the controversial quarry. Tavaglione then voted alongside supervisors John Benoit and Marion Ashley to approve the environmental document.

Taken from the bottom of the minutes of the RIV Co BOS meeting of 5/15/12.

14.1 COUNTY COUNSEL: Denial Findings for Surface Mining Permit No. 213 and Reclamation Plan, Change of Zone No. 7508 and Noise Ordinance Exception No. 2, Final Environmental Impact Report No. 475; 1st/3rd District.

(APPROVE THE DENIAL OF THE FINDINGS AND CERTIFY THE EIR)

(emphasis added)

http://rivcocob.com/proceeds/2012/p2012_05_15.htm

paramount, were the residents of the 1st and 3rd Districts the ones to be impacted the most from operations of the proposed Liberty Quarry Mine (represented by Buster and Stone)?

http://www.countyofriverside.us/government/boardofsupervisors.html

With the CEQA and permit review process completed, the lead agency must approve or deny the permit within 6 months of certifying the EIR or within 3 months of adopting the Negative Declaration and file a Notice of Determination (NOD). Responsible agencies must then act within six months after the lead agency’s action or, if the developer¬applicant has not already filed an application with a responsible agency, within six months from the time the application is filed (except as modified under Health and Safety Code §25199.6).

(emphasis added)

http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/guidelines/intro.html

In a meeting of February 15, 2012, the Riverside County BOS voted to deny the plans for the quarry. The votes 3-2 were along the same district lines.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/temecula/temecula-headlines-index/20120216-liberty-quarry-supervisors-turn-down-mine-3-2.ece

The May 15, 2012, vote to uphold Liberty’s (expensive) EIR was 90 days later. The final recommendation to approve Granite’s EIR was made by county counsel. A qualified person or agency with the authority to bring a recommendation before a CA BOS on how they should vote on it must do so in writing at least two days before the meeting in which the voting will take place.

It is VERY likely the supes discussed this item with their counsel in closed session before the meeting and it was previously placed at the bottom of the agenda for good reason. The supes didn’t want any outcries from the “No Quarry” NIMBY’s in the audience until the cameras stopped rolling and the meeting was adjourned :=0

I don’t know all the “ins and outs” of CEQA but would surmise that Granite has a stronger remedy against a denial of its EIR since the activities of all the state and local agencies its EIR had to go through are highly regulated by the state and federal goverment. Tavaglione, currently running for Congress, came to the realization that Granite would likely be able to force the vote of approval of their EIR in the end and he didn’t want his vote to look “stupid,” since he is running on a “pro-biz” platform.

http://www.johntavaglioneforcongress.com/

paramount, the “NO QUARRY” group never enjoyed a unanimous vote of the supes. It was ALWAYS split along district lines. Those types of issues can go either way, depending on the circumstances at the time of the final vote (or “whichever way the wind is blowing” as they say in “politicoese”) :=0

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