County Readies For Contentious Mining Hearings

The doors of the Riverside Convention Center will open at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30 for the Board of Supervisors’ hearing on the appeal of the The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and last until 6 p.m.

after the Riverside County Planning Commission Because a the Riverside Convention Center at 3443 Orange Street in downtown Riverside has been reserved for Monday's meeting and another scheduled for Feb. 6 at 9 a.m.

Monday's meeting will open with a short report from the Riverside County planning director. In accordance with Board of Supervisors’ protocol for appeals, Granite Construction will then present its appeal. The appellant will be allowed to speak for up to one hour, followed by elected officials who wish to address the Board. Public comment will continue with supporters, followed by those who say they are neutral, then opponents. The appellant will then be provided time for rebuttal. The Board of Supervisors is expected to take a short lunch break around noon.

and several hundred people asked to comment. It is possible that opposition comments at Monday's meeting might not begin until the second hearing, depending on the number of people who ask to speak before opposition comments commence.

To make them available to as many people as possible, the meetings will be streamed live on the Internet via links available on the County’s home page, www.countyofriverside.us, the County Planning Department web page, http://www.tlma.co.riverside.ca.us/planning/, and the Clerk of the Board’s web page, http://www.rivcocob.com/.

Anyone who intends to display a PowerPoint or other electronic presentation during the hearing MUST confirm that they have delivered an electronic copy of the presentation to the Clerk of the Board’s office by Thursday at 5 p.m. – standard practice for Board of Supervisors meetings. The deadline helps ensure presentations are compatible with the video system used at the meetings and do not contain a virus or otherwise damaging software. For more information, contact the Clerk of the Board at (951) 955-1069 or at 4080 Lemon St. in downtown Riverside.

Those who wish to speak at the meetings will be required to fill out a form before they address the Board of Supervisors.  A copy of that form is available at the Clerk of the Board website, http://www.rivcocob.com. The form may be downloaded, filled out in advance and presented to the clerk’s staff before the meeting begins, or once it is in progress.  The form also will be available at the meetings but those who wish to comment are encouraged to download the form and fill it out ahead of time. Forms may NOT be mailed in to the county.

As authorized by provisions of the Brown Act and Board of Supervisors Policy A-2, people who attend and wish to comment will be limited to one appearance only during the course of the meetings. Each individual will have three minutes to address the Board of Supervisors.  Up to two people may give their time to another individual to extend the recipient’s total minutes to nine.  Those who give up their time must be present at the meeting when the person receiving their time is called to speak.  No one may give their time to more than one person.

Signs or placards that might obstruct another person’s view will not be allowed inside the meeting room, nor will signs attached to sticks, poles or similar devices.  Backpacks, other large bags or large purses also are prohibited. People who plan to attend are urged to carpool in order to minimize the effects on traffic in the downtown area and help ensure the available parking will be adequate.

If more than two meetings on the appeal are required, the Clerk of the Board will determine any future date, time and location. --Riverside County Executive Office