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<br />I~ <br />County board <br />OKs gravel pit <br />Com~n~ss2oners ii-na~n2maics vote <br />in fi~ri cues Recllc~ncls o pponents <br />By CHRIS BARI(ER <br />fhe DaiF/ Santinel <br />The :b[esa County Commissioners <br />unanimously approved a controver- <br />sial gravel pit in a residential area <br />Tuesr;a}', striking a blow against a <br />coordinated Redlands neighborhood <br />effort. <br />The vote drew boos and calls of <br />"recall" Erom (he audience at Two <br />Rivers Convention Center. <br />"I think its totally out of line;' <br />said Chazlie Post, aseven-year resi- <br />dent of the Redlands area.."Zoning <br />should protect us from heavy <br />industry." <br />Grand Junction Pipe and Suppiy, <br />which plans to begin mining the 105- <br />acre Colorado River bohom site this <br />winter, had a different take.' . <br />"1 think it took a lot of courage on <br />their part," said Ron Tipping, who <br />owns the company with his wife. <br />"Obviously they made a decision <br />that was very unpopular." <br />Tipping said the decision, which <br />came with 10 conditions attached, <br />will make the Soaring Eagle Gravel <br />Pit the most highly regulated pit in <br />Iviesa County. The conditional-use <br />permit allows mining, processing <br />and reclaiming of 530 acres on the <br />south side of the Colorado River at <br /> that their minds were made up be- <br />"1 think it's totally out of forThe hearing as[he continuation <br />line. Zoning should protect °fos~-houriwtayl8hearingonsoar- <br /> in, Eagle. Dozens of Redlands resi- <br />ns from heavy industry <br />" dents spoke out against the pit, cit- <br />. <br />. ing increased traffic and safety <br />CHARLIE POST concerns revolving around truck <br />Seven- ear Redlands resident <br />Y traffic to and from the mine. <br />Public testimony was not allowed <br /> at'i5tesday's heazing. <br />~ ~ <br />the ZO Road alignment Commissioners Jim Baughman, <br />. <br />_ Conditions imposed by commis- Doraiyn Genova and I;athy HaIl re-. <br />sinners include a limit of 55 truck fused to comment on their decision, <br />round-trips per day, limiting opera- citing a law that prohibits discus- <br />tion of a rock crusher to four winter Sion for 30 days after a vote. But <br />they carefully charted their path <br />months, paving of the hauling road through the Mesa;County,Develop-:: <br />to reduce dust, and time-specific justifying their votes <br />ment Code <br />truck routes in and out of the pi[.' , <br />. <br />withspecificlegalreferences. <br />. <br />Those routes aze designed to mini- . <br />~ <br />Commissioners gtiizzed Tipping <br />mite traffic on Redlands Parkway, on state and federal perntits. Com- <br />neazhy school zones and the more missioner Jim Ba(ighman proposed <br />densely-populated azeas of the : an unsuccessftil `' condition: that <br />Redlands. <br />Nearly. half of an audience of ~ would have routed;all.truck traHlc <br />`north on state Highway 340 to Inter- <br />about 350 filed out in disgust about ..state 70. <br />midway through the hearing, before :. County Attorriey` Lyle Dechant . <br />the commissioners even voted on . cautioned commissioners not tocon= <br />', <br />the permit. ~ <br />"We're very disappointed that - <br />:Sider opinions held by many people <br />' <br /> <br />they didn't listen to their constitu- any more valuable than those ex- <br /> <br />eons," said~Judy Fox, anorganizer of .pressedbyjustonepetson: <br />- . <br />.;.": <br />the Redlands Neighborhood <br />Devel-: - <br />' - <br />. <br />opment Association. "It was clear; . ~ `See GRAVEL page 6A : > <br /> <br />