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RUMBLING ON

 

This website exists to provide a place to share information of importance regarding the Lincoln County Planning  Department  LCPD and Eckman Creek Quarry,  Waldport.

Our goal is to see our neighborhood quarries operate and prosper, with regulated days and hours of operations, plus the  other conditions and restrictions  inherent  in a permit. This could be achieved  by obtaining  the legally required conditional use  permits. These permits would legalize their operations.  These required conditional use permits would apply all federal, state and county land use laws, including but not limited to,  regulated days and hours of operation,  insurances  that pre-blast notices are sent to neighbors, and that  required  OSHA  safety and warning  blasting rules are  honored. To achieve that goal,  Lincoln County Planning would have to issue a conditional use permit, and enforce it.  The Lincoln County planning Department {LCPD]  Dept. under  director  Onno  Husing has refused to do  issue that permit. The quarry operates un restricted without the required permits.

Early May 2018  an email received from Onno……..

“Sent to the Lincoln County Planning Commission yesterday    DEAR PLANNING COMMISSION:

Last week Robert Rubin appeared at the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners meeting. He asked Lincoln County to regulate the Eckman Creek Quarry under a conditional use (CU) permit. Afterwards Wayne Belmont requested a packet of information to review.

I took that opportunity, once again, to review all the information. This time, though, when looking at that stack of information, I noticed a map showing the “permit boundary” that — to my eyes this time around — seemed an odd configuration.

That prompted me to look at our GIS system again. I saw the location (including aerial photography) of quarry activities, the permit history, and checked it against the arrangement of the parcels. To my surprise, I realized the quarry operations had, during 1989, been expanded (formalized through a DOGAMI permit) to encompass a second parcel. I contacted staff at DOGAMI, again, to ask their help interpreting DOGAMI’s regulatory record.

Here’s what I determined.

The act of the expansion of the quarry — during 1989 — when it encompassed this second parcel, in effect, gave Lincoln Count the authority to regulate Eckman Creek Quarry. That authority, to regulate that quarry under a CU, has existed since 1989. I then let Wayne Belmont and Jerry Herbage know what I learned.

Robert Rubin, it should be noted, pointed that out. But, I missed it. I thought the “expansion” was elsewhere on the existing parcel. I was in error.

I called Robert Rubin to explain what I learned. I let him know I now agreed with him; that Lincoln County has the authority to regulate the quarry under a CU permit.

I apologized to Robert. I take full responsibility. I told Robert I respected his tenacity in pursuing this matter because he genuinely believed he was correct.

And, as always, when something like this happens, I will take stock of what happened to learn from it.

——————————–   NEXT STEPS

This week I will call to Dave Kauffman (the quarry owner/operator). Unless Dave can provide additional-new information to persuade us to reverse, again, the regulatory status of the quarry, he will need to go through a CU process. I don’t expect new information can change these factual circumstances.

Our first step, from a staff perspective, will be to review the list of conditions (operating hours, blasting notices, etc.) for the other quarries we regulate in Lincoln County. Intuitively, I believe our task of preparing a list of draft conditions to regulate the quarry, under a CU, starts with a review of what we require of other quarries (under their CU permits). In any event, I think this is a good outcome. Thank you.      [written by Onno Husing, May 2018}

 

 

 

We live near 2 rock quarries.  Cedar Creek Quarry, applied  for  and  obtained  required county permits.  Conditional  Use  Permits.   They have  regulated  days and hours of operations.  They provide notices of blasting, before the event.   The  other  quarry  operates without any Lincoln County permits.  Their position is they have “no rules”.  New  operators,  ARI, out of Springfield , Oregon, who  are aware  they do not have a permit,  claim  they are lawful, and  verbally stated   “we  will work when we  want”.   Many  previous  attempts  to  resolve  this issue through  conversations with the quarry owner  have failed.  Our neighborhood would like to see regulated days and hours of operations, and the other regulatory  benefits of a lawfully permitted quarry operation.

On Feb. 29, 2016 I filed a complaint with the Lincoln County Planning Department.  [LCPD]

 Quarry operates outside of State and County, Days and Hours guidelines.  Operator wrongly believes his “Grandfather Clause” operating permits, allow 24/7 operations  that  include expansion areas obtained after permits were issued.  Only  the original 18 acres are included  in the  grandfathered  exemption.  Additional USFS leased land and other lands, are NOT exempt from State and County  regulated days, hours and safety guidelines.  Operations occur  in the dark with heavy equipment  operating only with head lights, on steep slopes.  Sunday  operations  occur  off the original  exempt  18 acres. Recent violation dates  Sunday Jan.24  and following week working in the dark.  

Many years  ago on an Easter Sunday  I contacted the  latest operators of Eckman Creek Quarry to remind them it was Easter Sunday and suggested  maybe they could stop drilling and crushing for the day. I was told they have “no rules”.  This would be their standard response over the next few years.

Their  “no rules”  attitude derived from the fact that this quarry began in 1948 and was ‘grandfathered’  in regarding local  land use laws and regulations.  However,  in  1989  the quarry expanded with the purchase of  adjacent  Tax lot 801 which contains  21.9 acres.  This expansion  necessitated  a conditional use permit, per LCC 1.1605 Section 3. This expansion voided the grandfather protections.  This permit was never applied for.

 29.2.1 Comprehensive Plans – Amendment – Generally. In land use regulation,  grandfather  clauses shield land use rights that were gained under old land use laws from the application of new land use laws so that the new land use laws are only applied prospectively. Central Oregon Landwatch v. Deschutes County, 63 Or LUBA 123 (2011).

The quarry  then applied for and received a  1989 revised  DOGAMI  Operating and Reclamation permit.  This permit  includes  the expanded  land and operating permit boundaries,  plus  updated reclamation plans requiring substantial modification including dewatering.  These DOGAMI issued permits require local land use permissions, and clearly state that on the permit.

DOGAMI   Deputy Director Ian Madin  wrote   Sept. 2017

“When the permit area was expanded in 1989, the expansion plan was circulated to other agencies for review and comment.  We have no record that the County responded.  Had the County objected to the expansion on the basis of land use, the permit for expansion would not have been issued. Since 1977, the County has been routinely copied with annually-issued permits and site inspection reports, and we have no record of any concerns on their part about land use authorization.

When we filed the complaint in  2016, LCPD did not have,  nor maintained  a file on  Eckman Creek Quarry.  Since 1989 this quarry has been the subject of a variety  complaints from neighbors, the City of Waldport, DOGAMI, and DEQ.

Over  the next  2 years I tried to convince Director  Husing that LCPD had the authority and mandate to regulate the quarry.  His refusal  to enforce our land use laws were based on  “ conversations with former employees and colleagues”  and  an alleged  previous  “finding that the quarry in question was, in effect, shielded by Oregon statute from a conditional use permit process because the quarry was grandfathered-in”.  This “finding’  is  not available for review  in the quarry file.

All through 2016 we E mailed and nothing  changed.  I began attending Planning Commission meetings in 2017

Minutes JUNE 12, 2017   “Commissioner  Buggenhagen  motioned to direct Staff to investigate the matter. Chair Johnson seconded the motion. The planning  commission voted unanimously to direct staff to investigate the matter.”

Aug.14, 2017 PC meeting minutes.   “Mr. Rubin requested to be put on the agenda for the next meeting.” “ Chair Johnson directed Staff to establish the facts and place the matter on the next agenda.”

“ A brief conversation ensued between Director Husing, The Planning Commission, and Mr. Rubin regarding an agenda item to the next Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Monday, August 28.”

August 29 PC meeting minutes do not show matter was discussed.

SEPT. 25, 2017   Minutes   Not posted..taken from packet for Feb. 26, 2018 meeting

“Chair Johnson agreed to put Mr. Rubin on the next agenda pending a report by Director Husing on the status of Mr. Rubin’s research request”    page 4

Dir. Husing  issued his final  official written  “ finding”  on Nov. 30 2017.  He  then  thwarted my attempts and prevented the Planning Commissioners  from holding a hearing.   He claimed  “the finding our Department issued was based on an exhaustive review of information related to the operation of Eckman Creek Quarry and its regulatory history”

Thankfully, I was directed to speak to our County Commissioners at a public  meeting  May 2. They were very gracious and I finally received some positive action.

Following that meeting in May of 2018,   LCPD Director Husing  reversed  his decision when he  wrote to the County Commissioners and the Planning commissioners:

“The act of the expansion of the quarry — during 1989 — when it encompassed this second parcel, in effect, gave Lincoln Count the authority to regulate Eckman Creek Quarry. That authority, to regulate that quarry under a CU, has existed since 1989.”

Since that acceptance of authority in May 2019, LCPD Dir. Husing  has  written me…

May 2018

“We cannot, yet, impose land use restrictions on the quarry (things like hours of operation, blasting notices, etc) until the CU process is complete. I expect the staff work on the conditional use process to proceed, in earnest, next week. I will write the staff report. We will be working with our Planning Commission to set a date for an upcoming hearing on the CU. Of course we will keep you informed throughout the process. As such, since you asked me to speculate how long this will take, we may be at least two months or so out from when the CU process is complete (there are notice periods and potential appeal periods that need to be observed). If the CU is appealed my estimates about the length of the process won’t apply.”     Thanks!  Onno

June 2018

“Dave can, though, please understand, blast and do it legally.

Yes, Eckman Creek Quarry is operating.

As I noted in previous correspondence, Lincoln County won’t seek to shut them down because we are still working through the regulatory issues. I promised Dave, after I communicated to Dave that it looks like we need to run him through a CU, that I would visit the site, to understand — from his perspective — what’s happening on the ground.

And YES we are paying close attention to the 1989 expansion (the regulatory expansion) which may indeed enable us (indeed obligate us) to regulate the quarry. The bottom line is this time around I am going to MAKE SURE WE GOT IT RIGHT.  And if it is clear Lincoln County is under obligation to regulate that quarry then we will put them through a CU process. That’s not a big deal. If that happens the conditions to run the quarry will, I anticipate, match the conditions we have for other quarries in Lincoln County subject to CUs.”

 

Recent requests to LCPD regarding the status of  the permits for Eckman Creek Quarry were not answered.  The quarry continues to operate beginning at 6 AM. We have contacted the L.C. Sheriff’s Dept. to assist us in enforcing our county  land use laws.

 

Operations at a quarry can include

The process of the quarry is:   Log trees, and remove all topsoil. Drill into rock. Set dynamite charges to dislodge rock,  move the rock to crusher, crush the rocks, move to piles,  load into trucks.  Repeat until no rocks.

DOGAMI is  Oregon Department of Minerals and Geology.