By Brenna Wiegand
As the clock winds down on the appeal period, Coon Hollow residents are resigning themselves to the fact there will be a rock quarry in their midst.
The 21-day period began March 10 when the Marion County Board of Commissioners formally adopted an ordinance paving the way for the mining and processing of aggregate materials on a 100.5-acre portion of a 405.75-acre property owned by Phillips Family Limited Partnership LLC. The site, 16675 Coon Hollow Road, Stayton, is located in an Exclusive Farm Use zone.
“What can you say? It seemed like their decision had already been made,” said Adam Anundi, who recently built his family’s dream home on a picturesque bluff overlooking the canyon, not knowing until midway through construction that a rock quarry was planned for that stretch of gully.
He and the many neighbors who’ve weighed in on the matter are frustrated, he said, and feel they have not been listened to during the yearlong battle since the application was made.
“I’m not sure we can do anything but yell and scream,” said George Zwicker, whose family has lived on Coon Hollow Road since 1964 – directly in front of what will become the quarry’s access road.
“This is my home; the place I love more than anywhere else in the world,” said Adrienne Christian, who lives next door to the quarry site. “The thought of not being able to stay here breaks my heart.”
The first hearing on the subject March 18, 2009, resulted in Phillips Family Limited Partnership requesting a continuance in order to provide additional information to the county. The record was left open until May 15, said senior planner Dave Epling, and on Aug. 27 the hearings officer referred it to county commissioners with a recommendation for denial.
Though disappointed at the initial recommendation of denial, Jeff Tross, land use consultant hired by Phillips, said it was valuable in identifying the range of issues the applicants needed to address.
“We’ve redoubled our efforts and have addressed each and every one of the concerns the hearings officer had,” he said.
One such concern: the Mill Creek watershed.
“Mill Creek is a prominent feature through this property,” Tross said. “… (it is) entirely outside of the mining area boundary and we have committed … that the mining boundary will at all times remain at least 100 feet from Mill Creek; … a riparian buffer between the creek and mining operation.”
“How are they going to keep all of that natural drainage flowing through the quarry from being tampered with or picking up all kinds of stuff while passing through and dumping it in the creek,” said Zwicker.
Though skeptical, Zwicker admits there are few other uses for the unique solid basalt resulting from an ancient lava flow they all share to some degree.
“It’s beautiful to look at but you can’t do anything with it,” he said.
A public hearing on the subject was conducted Dec. 16, 2009. The 4 ½-hour meeting involved testimony from a handful of opposing neighbors – and from a Phillips “project team”: Tross; the Phillips farm manager; and experts in the realms of geology, acoustics, traffic and pavement issues, ecosystems and blasting.
On Dec. 30, commissioners granted preliminary approval after discussing at length most of the proposal’s aspects and nailing down additional mitigation measures to be incorporated into its language before its formal adoption March 10.
The result: a 48-page approval, five pages containing conditions the applicant must meet before operations can begin.
Epling said an unusually extensive amount of time had been spent on this proposal’s requirements, most having to do with road conditions and what must be done to mitigate the operation’s impact along transport routes. These involve adding 4½ to 6 inches of asphalt over all possible routes and other improvements; especially the widening of roads and key intersections.
Epling indicated another major concern, preserving historical and naturally occurring drainage systems in and around the quarry, had been adequately addressed. The solution involves a series of overflow ponds.
“We really wanted to put some standards in here above and beyond the state requirements that could really address the concerns that were raised and (we are satisfied that) the response is here,” Commissioner Patti Milne said.
“The part I was particularly interested in was the roads and I’m confident that those are as good as we can make them,” said Commissioner Sam Brentano. He said the additional concerns – operations and hours; blasting procedures meeting noise and dust standards – were as tight as they had the right to make them.
But getting to this point has been a long and winding road for all concerned.
“One thing I think the county and commissioners totally overlooked is the amount of truck traffic that’s going to be entering Highway 22 at Fern Ridge Road,” Anundi said. “It’s an extremely dangerous intersection; there have been a lot of fatalities already, let alone when daily 50 to 100 trucks and trailers 40 to 50 feet in length are attempting to cut across the highway or merge onto it.
“In summer, the peak time of operation for a quarry, Highway 22 is at its busiest – many times bumper-to-bumper,” he added. “The only alternative is going right through downtown Sublimity past a school, a park, a retirement home and a church,” impacting people, he said, who have no idea what’s coming.
“People who’ve lived here for decades in a quiet, quaint area will now have 50 to 100 trucks a day roaring past their homes.”
Brentano and Milne have reiterated that there is only so much the county can do; that they do not have the option of saying “no” based on concerns voiced by many of the opposing neighbors: the presence of noise; changes to lifestyle, property values or scenic vistas.
“Quarries anywhere in the state of Oregon are as much a permitted and accepted use in EFU (Exclusive Farm Use) zones as a farm itself,” Brentano said. “(They) have just as much right … to extract that rock and haul it to market as someone growing corn and hauling it to market. So we’re really not left with an ability to just say … ‘We don’t want a quarry in there;’ what we are only left with is the ability to minimize the impacts…”
Brentano urged further clarification and specificity in traffic and road issues, which to him seemed too vague.
“I want to be firm that it’s going to be done and this is the time you have the leverage to do that,” he said.
The suggestion by county legal counsel Jo Stonecipher that applicants be given a year to complete the initial road analysis and improvements was incorporated into the board’s evolving list of conditions.
“There are a lot of start-up costs and there may not be a lot of money coming in right at the beginning,” she said.
At the public hearing, Brian Phillips said his family looks upon the land – where he was raised – as a “touchstone.”
“We would like to have a family business and we expect this to be one that will last for many years – well beyond our lifespans,” he said. “I think we can provide a lot of cost savings for the county and other government folks whose job it is to maintain roads,” Phillips said. “… this rock is ideal for base and any other purpose a road builder might need.”
“I’m a firm believer that you should be able to do what you want with your land but you can’t endanger public safety or disrupt natural water sources,” Zwicker said. “They shouldn’t put a rock pit anywhere around here.”
“I don’t want to see it go in but it doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot we can do about it,” Anundi said.
Christian expressed wide-ranging concerns at the public hearing about the quarry, summed up succinctly at her testimony’s end: “It’s going to be horrible.”
“Not everybody’s going to be happy no matter what we do,” Milne concluded.
Christian was allowed to speak briefly at the March 10 meeting after the ordinance was formally adopted. She asked how the county would ensure their manifold conditions were met on a day-to-day basis. She learned that by and large it is her job; the neighbors’ responsibility.
Digesting this information quickly, she asked commissioners who they should call if they suspect violations.
Prior to commencement of quarry operations, concerns should be directed to Marion County Planning, 503-588-5038; planning@co.marion.or.us. Once the quarry is under way, such inquiries or reports go to Marion County Public Works, 503-588-5036; mcdpw@co.marion.or.us.
At the Dec. 30 meeting commissioners expressed regret that so many neighbors’ concerns came in after the public record had been closed. They discussed ways in future they could make such proceedings and opportunities for public input more widely known while educating the community on how the whole process works.
“This has been a little frustration of mine for a few years,” Milne said.
Marion County Planning Manager Sterling Anderson said it has been an unusual year for the department in that it had been faced with three major aggregate proposals.
“What’s significant about this one,” he said in reference to the Phillips application, “is the amount of road improvements required. But, rural roads are never built to withstand such loads.”
However, the hefty investment could pay off big for the quarry; much of the rock currently mined in these parts is shipped to the Portland area.
