County Urged to Hold Quarry Hearings in Temecula
Temecula residents ask the County Board of Supervisors to hold hearings on Liberty Quarry in their city.
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SOS-Hills, an anti-quarry group, asked county officials today to hold hearings on Liberty Quarry in Temecula.
The group gathered at the County Administration Center to urge the Board of Supervisors to read and consider a letter it emailed on Jan. 2.
"We appreciate you considering our letter sent by our president, Kathleen Hamilton," said Fred Bartz, a Temecula resident, at the podium of the board chambers.
The letter gave five reasons for holding the meetings in Temecula.
"This project will directly and negatively impact the residents and economies of Temecula, Murrieta, Rainbow and Fallbrook. The original 2005 County of Riverside's Scoping Session was held in Temecula. The majority of the Riverside Planning Commission hearings were held in Temecula. The proposed Liberty Quarry also impacts the residents of northern San Diego County. A large number of persons residing in the areas most affected by this project will be disenfranchised, as they do not have the means and/or the resources to attend a hearing or multiple hearings in the City of Riverside," the letter states.
Two other people addressed the board urging it to consider letters it already sent during a meeting today.
The supervisors quickly passed a motion to receive and file paperwork documenting the rejection of the quarry by the Planning Commission.
This was just a technical issue the board had to deal with before moving on, said Ray Smith, a spokesperson for the county.
Granite Construction, a Watsonville-based mining company, submitted applications for mining permits and an exception to the noise ordinance to run a quarry just south of Temecula. To read about the plan, click here.
The Planning Commission denied the permits in August. To read about the meeting, click here.
Granite then appealed the decision, so the fate of the quarry now lies in the hands of the supervisors. Click here to read the details.
Jerri Arganda, a member of SOS-Hills, expressed concern the meetings would be held in Riverside, possibly at the Riverside Convention Center.
The meetings will need a large venue, Hamilton said. "If they hold the meetings here, this place (the board chambers) will be absolutely inundated," she said after today's meeting.
CORRECTION: The name of the city in which Granite Construction is based was changed from the original version of this story at 7:28 p.m.on Jan. 10. We apologize for the mix-up.
Paul Jacobs
6:01 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The findings of the Planning Commission rejecting Liberty Quarry were solid. Why should the County waste resources to hold another hearing for the appeal on behalf of Granite Construction? Does SOS-Hills find legitimacy with the appeal? When the Board of Supervisors decides to keep the hearings in Riverside, it will foretell of their inclination to overturn the Planning Commission's denial.
Ed Krinsky
7:09 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Money---Graft --- always a consideration---that's why another hearing is being held to try to reverse the decision not to grant the permits for Granite.
I will say it over and over again.......we need to hire a lawyer who has his practice outside of Riverside, who will notify the Department of Justice (and the city politicians)
to initiate a probe in Temecula. Once Granite gets wind of an investigation by the DOJ, and there is an impending possibility of arrests, then the Granite nonsense will cease! Until that happens, be prepared to welcome Granite into the neighborhood.....
Wanda Kirby
7:46 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The county recognizes the economic needs of this project and can be more objective because it effects all of Riverside County & not just Temecula. These new jobs are Important to the economy. Global warming is out of hand and unless we localize quarries and get trucks off the road, we will never get on top of it! Liberty Quarry is a must and the board of supervisors need to make this decision based on facts, not emotion!
Ed Krinsky
9:37 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Jacobs,
You write "...why should the country waste resources to hold another hearing.....?
The answer in one word...MONEY.......
anotherview
7:55 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
GCI has a right to appeal the decision of the Planning Commission denying the proposed GCI granite quarry near Temecula. GCI representatives have indicated its proposed quarry will receive a fair hearing from the County Supervisors. This wording implies the proposed quarry did not receive a fair hearing in front of the Planning Commission. On the contrary, the Planning Commission subjected the proposed quarry to a thorough review. GCI had every opportunity to present its side. The public and others gave their view. In the end, the Planning Commission found the proposed project had negatives outweighing its positives. The Planning Commission thus denied a mining permit and a noise ordinance exception for this proposed project. One must ask what else the County Supervisors will hear and understand different and new from the input to the Planning Commission sufficient to reverse its decision? The usual tactic involves insistence, repetition, contradiction, and skewing the facts. It may not fly with the County Supervisors.
Ed Krinsky
9:27 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Wanda,
Get a grip. No job is worth the pollution the diesel trucks hauling heavy loads would create. Why don't you consider taking al the leaves and wood in Riverside County, trucking them to the GCI site and urning them en masse. This too,would create jobs.
anotherview
8:48 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The “economic needs” of the proposed quarry would serve more the County of San Diego, yet the negative environmental impacts would occur mostly in Riverside County. Objectively, this scenario paints the proposed quarry. If rational in its approach, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors will also see this scenario. The claim of “new jobs” resulting from the proposed quarry the Planning Commission found questionable at best. GCI never said any new jobs would come from hiring the unemployed now residing in Temecula Valley. Instead, GCI apparently would transfer its existing employees from its other projects. Hence, no net creation of jobs would happen. Global warming presents a danger to life on Earth, no doubt, yet how this proposed quarry would do its part to address this threat remains unquantified. Localizing quarries makes sense; for this reason, GCI should locate a quarry in San Diego County. The “must” of a quarry we may agree with, yet it must logically go where the need exists, in San Diego County. Facts and emotion join together, generating passion. The passionate unity of the community against the proposed quarry near Temecula will defeat it.
SPB
9:20 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
@ Wanda... So opening the quarry will solve Global Warming? Please now, you sound ridiculous. The only people that are for the quarry are those who will profit from it. How much do you stand to make?
Ed Krinsky
9:34 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
SPG
Wanda is probably a representative of GCI, hired to monitor and respond to negative correspondence, and possibly makes a very good salary.
Her posting is totally irrational, something GCI would be a proponent of.