County of Sacramento California

COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA Control No.: PLNP2010-00264 Type: GPB-RZB-UPB-REB-DGB TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS – COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION FROM: COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT SUBJECT: STONERIDGE QUARRY GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT, REZONE, USE PERMIT, RECLAMATION PLAN, AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT CONTACT: Jeff Gamel, Senior Planner, 874-5835; [email protected] PROJECT DESCRIPTION ASSESSOR’S PARCEL NOS.: 073-0020-008, 072-0110-045 and 065. LOCATION: The project site is located approximately three miles south of US Highway 50, and 25 miles east of the City of Sacramento in eastern Sacramento County, California. More specifically, the project site is located approximately 1.5 miles south of White Rock Road, and 500 feet east of Scott Road, in the unincorporated Cosumnes community planning area of Sacramento County (Supervisor District 5: Don Nottoli) APPLICANT: ENGINEER: Angelo G. Tsakopoulos Cunningham Engineering 7423 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Suite 10 2940 Spafford Street, Suite 200 Carmichael, CA 95608 Davis, CA 95618 Attention: Pete Dwelley Attention: Steve Greenfield OWNER: REPRESENTATIVE: Angelo G. and Katherine Tsakopoulos Law Offices of Gregory D. Thatch 7423 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Suite 10 1730 I Street, Suite 220 Carmichael, CA 95608 Sacramento, CA 95811 Attention: Angelo G. Tsakopoulos Attention: Gregory D. Thatch STONERIDGE QUARRY PLNP2010-00264 073-0020-008, 072-0110-045/065 REQUEST: 1. A General Plan Amendment to the General Plan Land Use Diagram to remove the Resource Conservation Area (RCA) land use designation from 410 acres of the 1,360+ acre property and to add the Aggregate Resource Area (ARA) land use designation to 619 acres of the property. 2. A Rezone from AG-80 (Agricultural) to AG-80 (SM) (Surface Mining Combining) for 619 acres of the 1,360+ acre property. 3. A Use Permit to allow quarry mining and processing of materials including an aggregate processing plant, hot-mix asphalt plant, ready-mix concrete plant, construction materials recycling and dimension stone workshop on 619 acres of the 1,360+ acre property for a term of 100 years. 4. A Reclamation Plan to reclaim and reuse the 619 acres as a lake (quarry pit) and future grazing and habitat uses (aggregate processing area). 5. A Development Agreement between the applicant and the County of Sacramento (County). ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT: DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT Overview: The Applicant proposes to develop a hardrock quarry on property currently utilized for grazing land. Associated with the Quarry will be a processing facility that will include an aggregate processing plant, hot-mix asphalt plant, concrete batch plant, construction materials recycle plant, and a dimension stone workshop (cut and polish large slabs of material). The maximum proposed annual aggregate production during the project life would be six million tons per year. The applicant proposes that the mining would continue for up to 100 years through seven mining phases. A total of approximately 353 million tons of aggregate material would be mined over the life of the project. Excavation within the quarry pit area would be an average depth of 350 feet below the original grade. At the conclusion of the aggregate production, a three-year final reclamation phase would extend the total project lifespan to 103 years. The proposed post-mining land use for the project site would be a lake (quarry pit) and grazing and habitat uses (aggregate processing area). Summary of Significant Issues: Hardrock Mining: The proposal would be one of two modern hardrock (quarry) mining operations to be approved in the County. The Teichert Quarry, located adjacent to the project site, was approved by the County Board of Supervisors (Board) on November 30, 2010. Operational controls and project conditions are included that mitigate for potential impacts from quarry activities. One of the significant issues is the permit length. Other mining operations in Sacramento County, including the recently approved Teichert use permit, have terms of 25 years. JG:jg:crg PLNP2010-00264 2 STONERIDGE QUARRY PLNP2010-00264 073-0020-008, 072-0110-045/065 In this case, the applicant is requesting a permit term of 100-years. A Development Agreement (DA) is proposed along with other entitlements to allow this proposed mining operation. If the 100-year term is permitted, the attached DA will require periodic reviews every 25 years. Therefore, two options are recommended by staff for the permit length. Consistency with Resource Conservation Area: The proposed mining site is located outside of the Urban Services Boundary and within one of the County’s designated Resource Conservation Areas (RCA). As such, the project represents a significant change of planned land use for the area. The area has been contemplated in recent past County public discussion for continued agriculture, habitat preservation, and open space. However, the RCA is generally coincident with the State designated Mineral Resource Zone (MRZ)-2 for which evidence substantiates the existence of important aggregate deposits. The removal of the RCA designation, in order to permit the project, is a reasonable and appropriate trade-off. The applicant has agreed to mitigation requiring permanent protection an amount of land equal to the footprint of the quarry. Conservation easements will be provided in the general vicinity of the project. Open Space: The unincorporated area south of White Rock Road is an important natural resource and open space area for the County. Much of the land in this area is in private holdings and used for cattle grazing, and by definition qualifies as open space. The County has long expressed an interest to maintain intact habitat areas by establishing natural open space linkages through conservation easements and other means to ensure the long-term preservation of natural resources in this area. The applicant has agreed to mitigation requiring protection of an amount of land equal to the footprint of the quarry via conservation easements in the general vicinity of the quarry. Exhibits attached to the Development Agreement (DA) show that these easements will connect to conservation easements identified for the adjacent Teichert property in a manner so as to create a contiguous open space corridor south of White Rock Road having an overall length of approximately 2.5 miles. In addition, the mining will provide a revenue source to support continued ranching operations consistent with the long-term open space goals for this area. Cumulative Truck Traffic Impacts: The three large hard rock quarries planned for the eastern County, plus a number of other planned/proposed projects in this area, will contribute to future significant, cumulative traffic conditions. The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) examines worst case traffic conditions and identifies fair share mitigation responsibilities for necessary roadway improvements and ongoing roadway maintenance. A subsequent analysis, known as the East Sacramento Region Aggregate Mining Truck Management Study (Truck Management Plan) is being prepared to examine likely or “reasonable” conditions. The project JG:jg:crg PLNP2010-00264 3 STONERIDGE QUARRY PLNP2010-00264 073-0020-008, 072-0110-045/065 conditions and DA contain appropriate provisions to mitigate cumulative impacts, and to require participation in a Truck Management Plan adopted by the Board. Development Agreement: The staff and applicant have agreed to enter into a DA to vest the rights of the project in exchange for voluntary public benefit items that go beyond the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) mitigation requirements. The DA is an integral part of the staff recommendation. As noted above, the public benefit items contained therein support opening the eastern County to mining, while providing additional revenue to support continued ranching operations consistent with long-term open space goals. In addition, the DA will provide a coordinated program for regional open space, habitat and recreation conservation consistent with the agriculture, open space, and resource protection goals outlined in the various General Plan elements. Other CEQA Impacts: The DEIR concludes that specified impacts to aesthetics, agricultural resources, biological resources, cultural resources, traffic, air quality, land use, and climate change would be significant and unavoidable. The staff supports a determination that the benefits of the project will outweigh the unavoidable adverse effects and that a statement of overriding considerations should be adopted by the County in support of the project. CPAC Recommendation: The Cosumnes Community Planning Advisory Council (CPAC) met on March 23, 2011, April 27, 2011, and again on August 24, 2011, to hear the project. The CPAC recommended APPROVAL of the project by a vote of 4-0. Their recommendation included the use of 5-strand barbed-wire fencing around the quarry perimeter, a similar non-profit foundation structure for both the County- wide open space funding and the Cosumnes area project funding, continued participation in the Truck Management Plan, and serious concerns for potential conflicts between the future public trail and adjacent agricultural uses. Recommendations: Staff is recommending APPROVAL of the proposed project, but with two options for the term— that is, either a term of 25 years or a term of 100 years with periodic reviews every 25 years at which time the Board of Supervisors could consider certain limited modifications to the conditions of approval. I. Location

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