Business & Tech

No Quarry For Southwest Riverside

Wednesday night the Riverside County Planning Commission voted 4-1 to deny mining permits and a sound ordinance exception for Liberty Quarry, a strip mining operation that was proposed by Northern California-based Granite Construction.

There will be no quarry in the hills outside Temecula.

Wednesday night the Riverside County Planning Commission voted 4-1 to deny mining permits and a sound ordinance exception for Liberty Quarry, a strip mining operation that was proposed by Northern California-based Granite Construction.

Commissioner James Porras cast the lone approving vote.

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Commissioners John Snell and John Petty renounced the project that was planned for a 415-acre site just south of Temecula.

The quarry will destroy a beautiful, untouched region, Snell said.

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"In my mind, you have an area that seems pristine and we are going to disturb it," he said. "I consider that (impact) to be significant."

A county report studying the environmental impacts of the project was flawed, Petty said.

A final environmental impact report was issued in March and found that noise, air, traffic and land-use problems arising from the quarry could be mitigated.

"The assumptions made in the report were not good assumptions," Petty said.

The benefit would go to San Diego County, while Riverside County would pay the cost, Petty reasoned.

"This is a classic environmental justice issue," he said. "You desecrate, you harm a less wealthy area to benefit a wealthier area."

But Porras argued the studies were good enough for almost every other project in the county, so they were good enough for the quarry.

"The study (methods) have been adequate for other cities and other projects," he said.

Commissioner Jan Zuppardo both praised and criticized the project.

"My main concern is air quality. I'm not convinced we're able to overcome those issues," Zuppardo said.

She also said that the Pechanga tribe should have raised its concerns about the project being too close to its sacred sites sooner.

In the end, she voted against.

"The cost outweighs the benefit," she said.

"The benefits were significantly overstated,” said Commission Chair John Roth, who urged that the quarry would be a bad neighbor for Temecula residents.

The project is one of the hottest issues in the last two decades, Roth added.

"I have never seen a project that engendered the controversy or the emotions this project has," he said.

Roth has served on the commission since 1992.  

Thousands have turned out for hearings on the quarry, which has been in the works for more than four years and would involve extracting rocks from hillsides at a site just off Interstate 15, near Rainbow Valley Boulevard.

Granite Construction is seeking a 75-year operating window, during which an estimated five million tons of construction-grade aggregate -- gravel and sand -- would be mined annually.

Around 100 jobs would be created by the project, with salaries and benefits per position averaging $100,000 a year, according to Granite. The company said the quarry would add about $41 million annually to local government coffers.

The aggregate produced at the mine would provide asphalt and concrete for roads, homes and other infrastructure projects, Granite officials said.

The Greater Riverside, Lake Elsinore and Wildomar chambers of commerce have endorsed the project. The Friends of the Santa Margarita River, the Endangered Habitats League and the Rainbow Planning Group have opposed it.

Opponents of the project believe air quality will suffer, water tables will drop and traffic congestion will surge if mining is permitted.

The city of Temecula attempted unsuccessfully in 2009 to annex the land where the strip mine has been proposed.

Granite company officials have indicated they plan to appeal tonight's decision, leaving the county Board of Supervisors as a panel of last resort. The board will likely take up the matter before year's end. --Toni McAllister and City News Service contributed to this report.


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