2021-10-27_REVISION - M1976007UG (31)

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Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety October 27, 2021 Page 3 3601176.2 for the prebles meadow jumping mouse. See Jefferson County Pre-Application Review Response, Case No. 20-106528PA, at 2 (attached hereto as Exhibit A).  The Application also fails to thoroughly address basic—but critical issues—related to: (i) the timing and extent of the proposed mining operations; (ii) stormwater runoff, which appears to drain eastward from the existing operations and is unlikely to be absorbed into a clay mine; (iii) Acme Brick Company’s failure to reclaim past mining operations at the site; and (iv) the apparent proximity of groundwater to the surface given the admission that past underground mining operations were abandoned due to the high water table. Each of these deficiencies provides an independent basis for denying the Application. Second, the expansion contemplated by the Application would violate Jefferson County land use regulations and Acme Brick Company has not obtained the requisite “local permits, licenses, and approvals” required to expand its operation as required under Section 34-32.5-115(4)(d), C.R.S. The expanded mining operations contemplated by the Application are located in unincorporated Jefferson County on land that Jefferson County has zoned as “Agricultural-Two” (or “A-2”). Under the Jefferson County Zoning Resolution (hereinafter, the “Zoning Resolution”), Jefferson County’s Agricultural Zone Districts are “intended to provide for limited farming, ranching and agriculturally related uses while protecting the surrounding land from any harmful effects.” Zoning Resolution, § 33(A).2 The Zoning Resolution does not permit any mining uses within the A-2 zone district. Any new or expanded mining operations in Jefferson County are only permitted on lands that have first been rezoned as a “Planned Development District for Mining.” See generally Zoning Resolution, § 29. This requires a considered and detailed rezoning process that must ultimately be approved by the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners following a showing that the operation will comply with—among other things—Jefferson County’s “Mineral Extraction Policy Plan” as well as an additional “Mining Site Plan Review” approval process. See generally Zoning Resolution, § 44. Here, Acme Brick Company has not sought any of these required “local permits, licenses, or approvals” from Jefferson County. While the legacy mining operations at the site might arguably have been allowed under prior iterations of the County’s Zoning Resolution, the current application seeks to expand that historic 9-acre operation to cover upwards of 85 acres in Jefferson County’s A-2 zone district, where mining is unambiguously prohibited. Jefferson County itself previously confirmed that Acme Brick Company would “need to Rezone to allow for an expansion of their requested mining land use. If the Rezoning is approved, then the applicant will need to complete the Mining Site Plan Review process to [sic] prior to the commencement of any mining 2 The current version of Jefferson County’s Zoning Resolution may be accessed at https://www.jeffco.us/2460/Zoning-Resolution.