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Loveland Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. <br />Permit No. M-1974-069 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />using wash fines as a substrate within the plant growth medium. Costs for topsoil placement <br />and seeding aze included in this adequacy response. (14 acres) <br />The Applicant notes that the specified plant growth medium is consistent with all applicable <br />DMG Rules. Rule 3.1.9 generally provides that topsoil should be sufficient to achieve <br />reclamation goals. - Additionally, Rule 6.4.5(1) calls for flexibility in quantitative <br />reclamation requirements, and, finally, the successful implementation of a reclamation <br />plan is guazanteed by Rule 4.17.1(1) and the various warranties executed by an <br />applicant/operator. Inspections in the field during the reclamation process will confirm <br />the suitability of topsoil conditions. <br />6.0 The history of the M-1974-069 permit was preceded by a substantial history of the batch <br />plant and office azea facilities existing on the site independent of permitting and zoning for <br />the extraction of aggregates. The batch plant and office azea were erected on the Larimer <br />Pit site in 1954, one year prior to the incorporation of Loveland Ready Mix Concrete, <br />Inc., as a company. <br />In 1963, Larimer County adopted zoning, but the batch plant and office had already been in <br />existence for approximately nine yeazs. The continuous operation of the batch plant <br />and office use during its existence on the site qualifies it as a legal nonconforming use <br />under Larimer County's Land Use Code (LCLUC). Specifically, LCLUC Sections <br />3.6(A) and 4.8.2 provide that such use is allowed to remain given its legal status prior to <br />the adoption of zoning regulations. In 1979, an amendment related to cell azeas 2-10 <br />required Loveland Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. to obtain Larimer County Special Review <br />approval for mining and reclamation of those areas. However, the plant and office azea <br />has, as a legal nonconforming use, never been the subject of any discretionary zoning <br />approval and, under Larimer County regulations, is entitled to legally exist on the site <br />following reclamation with no further action or review by the County. <br />The Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of Construction Materials states <br />that the intent of the Act is to require "those persons involved in extraction operations to <br />reclaim land affected so that it may be put to a use beneficial to the people of this state." <br />Putting this intent into practice relative to 112 permits, the Rules provide, "The <br />Reclamation Plan shall include provisions for, or satisfactory explanation of, all general <br />requirements for the type of reclamation proposed to be implemented by the <br />Operator/Applicant. Reclamation shall be required on all the affected land." In all <br />relevant provisions, the Construction Materials Act is consistent: Reclamation is applicable <br />to affected land, with the intent of enabling a beneficial post-mining use. <br />According to the statutory definition, `affected land' means the surface of an azea within <br />the state where a mining operation is being or will be conducted, which surface is disturbed <br />as a result of an operation." The batch plant and office area have a legal existence sepazate <br />from the mining operation at the Lazimer Pit. In some cases, the approval process and/or <br />conditions for a mining operation subject to reclamation permitting may be such that a batch <br />plant or office azea is entirely accessory to a mining operation. This is not the case at the <br />Larimer Pit. <br />