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can cause the applicant to remain in violation without any resolved accountability to the County or general
<br />public; and without such certain resolution, the County cannot consider the applicant compliant with the
<br />adopted Code.
<br />Finally, due to the applicant's refusal to accept these fundamental conditions within the flexible RIA, the
<br />County is compelled to recommend denial of their petition; and the County must document several other items
<br />here which do not currently meet minimum code standards/requirements, which are expressed in the form of
<br />Findings within this report (however, which might have otherwise been expressed with conditions for
<br />approval).
<br />Technical Project Background
<br />The GCC Energy King II coal mine operates on land leased from the Colorado State Land Board. Based on
<br />its location on State Land Board property, there was confusion in 2006 as to whether La Plata County could
<br />require a local land use permit. Upon further legal review it was determined that C.R.S. 31-1-120.5(3)
<br />requires a lessee of such property to meet local land use standards. As such, GCC Energy was notified on
<br />August 3, 2010, that a Class II Land Use Permit was required. The notification stated projects within the
<br />County, even if on State land, are subject to the land use permitting process, and on July 12, 2012, GCC
<br />Energy submitted a Class II land use permit application with supporting materials. On November 13, 2014
<br />and December 11, 2014 this project was placed on a Planning Commission agenda, although due to significant
<br />public comment, GCC requested, and was granted, a continuation to further refine their proposal, as well as to
<br />address outstanding issues being raised from general and affected public comments.
<br />In 2015, additional neighborhood meetings were held including the formation of the Hay Gulch Citizen
<br />Advisory Panel (CAP), a forum of neighborhood representatives, providing GCC the opportunity to further
<br />resolve project issues/concerns. During this time, staff participated in inter -agency meetings with the Bureau
<br />of Land Management (BLM) and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), which are in the process of conducting
<br />an Environmental Assessment (EA) as required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) for
<br />modified or new lease requests by GCC Energy. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety
<br />(CDRMS) also participated in these discussions.
<br />After receiving the recommendations of the CAP, re-evaluating all aspects of the proposal, GCC requested an
<br />expedited hearing date. The County responsively and strictly adhered to this and outlined minimum submittal
<br />materials needed to proceed with an October 8, 2015 Planning Commission hearing. GCC Energy submitted a
<br />revised Class II land use application to the County on July 31, 2015, with supplemental information on August
<br />12, 2015 in an attempt to provide the previously communicated, minimum submittal materials. They also
<br />moved forward with a petition for a variance in front of the Board of Adjustments (BOA) on September 2,
<br />2015, in order to allow a portion of north CR 120 to exceed an 8% maximum grade requirement (recognizing
<br />that their proposed project's impacts required roadway improvements and this being their designated haul
<br />route for all haul truck traffic). They received approval from the BOA for the requested variance. On October
<br />8, 2015 GCC requested, and was granted, a continuation of their public hearing by the Planning Commission
<br />to a date certain (February 25, 2016) in order to complete their application with respect to proof of adequate
<br />water supply and access, primarily. A copy of the October 8, 2015 Planning Commission minutes are
<br />included as Attachment 1.
<br />The February 25'h continued hearing date provided four additional months, requested by GCC Energy, to
<br />address, refine and adequately include appropriate materials within their application submission for
<br />consideration of their proposal. Meanwhile, staff and GCC attempted to negotiate a Road Improvement
<br />Agreement (RIA) that would identify minimum requirements and mitigation improvements directly associated
<br />with their proposed project; and in order to be in compliance with the adopted Code. Through the RIA, staff
<br />attempted to make those compliant improvements more manageable for the applicant by allowing them to be
<br />implemented in phased segments.
<br />Project No. 2012-0089 PC
<br />4852-5627-2942, v. 3
<br />Page 3 of 32
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