News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A controversial gravel mine and crushing operation proposed for a site four miles west of Sisters has won approval from Deschutes County.
In a decision handed down Friday, County Hearings Officer Christopher Eck approved the site plan and conditional use permit application of Hap Taylor and Sons, Inc. and Crown Pacific for the surface mining operation.
Hap Taylor and Sons propose a year-round 30-year operation to extract an
estimated 5 million cubic yards of material from the 640 acre parcel. The operation is allowed a maximum of 13 off-site truck round-trips per hour.
Opponents vow that they will appeal the decision to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. They fear that as many as 26 trucks per hour running through downtown Sisters could hurt the town's economy and threaten the safety and quality of life of Sisters area residents.
Oregon's planning goals identify aggregate as a protected resource, which makes achieving site plan approval for a surface mine easier than other land use approvals might be.
Eck noted that the Deschutes County Code, as it applies to surface mining applications, states that an application cannot be denied unless it is demonstrated that the requirements of an Economic, Social, Environmental and Energy study "are not and cannot be satisfied by the proposed site plan."
"Thus," Eck found, "the proposed site plan must be approved if it is shown that there is a reasonable likelihood that all criteria can and will be met with the imposition of relevant conditions. Under these circumstances, the task of those opposing site plan approval is formidable."
The decision imposed 31 conditions designed to ensure that the applicants will comply with ESEE and setback requirements.
Eck addressed evidence presented by opponents regarding concerns over noise, dust and hydrology; in each case he found that the applicants had demonstrated that they had or could conform to required standards.
Mine opponents believe the hearings officer was too quick to accept the applicants' evidence.
"Regardless of the evidence he took the applicants' point of view because they are the so-called experts," said John Hornbeck, one of the leaders of the opposition to the mine.
Hornbeck said Eck "missed the point" of the opponents' argument that the site was zoned for surface mining by the county in 1989 under the assumption that any mining activity would be for noncommercial uses.
At that time, the owner of the parcel, Willamette Industries requested zoning of the site for surface mining. County planning commission meeting minutes from February 21, 1989 indicate that Willamette Industries proposed to use the gravel they extracted for their logging roads and that they would not be mining for commercial purposes.
"If commercial use was contemplated, the whole discussion would have been different," Hornbeck said. "No one contemplated a commercial use back in February, 1989 when this (zoning) was approved."
Eck dismissed the opponents arguments, stating that the "record leaves little doubt that this site would be developed to meet the county's substantial needs for aggregate and offers little, if any, basis for imposing an ill-defined restriction to non-commercial use."
Hornbeck said that the opposition would appeal the hearings officer's decision to the county commissioners.
"I would hope that this is an issue that they would look closely at. This goes to the heart of everything in Central Oregon," Hornbeck said.
"Clearly they were elected to make these decisions that impact whole towns and all of Central Oregon."
Hornbeck said that the county decision would serve as a wake-up call to Sisters area residents who are worried about the mine.
"A lot of people who have been very supportive of the opposition to the mine now realize that this mine is a possibility or even a probability" if the hearings officer's interpretation of the law prevails, he said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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