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~~ ~. :~~ ~~ Friday, January 9, 1981 Gazette Telegrapher-B Land use director loses _ .. =mining firm can move operatio,n:coumy says _. By ROBERT CHRISTMAN GT Staff Writer By unanimous vole of the E1 Paso County . _ Board of Adjustment Thursday, the Daniels Sand Co. can mine on 214 acres on the east side of Academy Boulevazd at Bradley Road. The board overruled county Land Use Direc- == for Bill Wildman who last year said the company couldn't move from the west side of Academy Boulevard to the east side without _ special use approval from the county Board of •- Commissioners. - Company attorney G. Scott Briggs said ~. Thursday that the issue arose last summer _ when the company asked the county Land Use -- Department for a fetter confirming that the i company could mine on the 219 acres. ~. The letter was to be part of the company's _ request to the state bfine Land Reclamation Board for a lifetime permit to mine the land = unfit the sand deposit was depleted. Briggs said Land Use Department staff member John Fisher sent the necessary letter confirming that the nonconforming mining op- _- eration could move to the 219 acres. Briggs said Wildman countermanded the letter a few _ days later, saying no mining could take place -• on the site unless the commissioners acted. =- Because of Wildman's action, Briggs said the company has been unable to get the state = permit until the local disagreement is resolved. Company officers Thursday said the 219-acre tract is part of more than 300 acres purchased in 1955 for mineral extraction. In the early 1970s, the site was split by the construction of ~. South Academy Boulevard, they said. - However, officers added, they were assured by the Land Use Department at the time that the construction of Academy Boulevard by the state would have no affect on the company's - ability to mine the entve site. = Wildman justified his position by saying that _ the county. Assessor's office considers the 214 _ acres a separate site. "We feel the company is moving its opera- tion to a new parcel and that doesn't represent continuation of a nonconforming use but an expansion of a nonconforming use," Wildman said. The company was mining sand before com- missioners in 1970 adopted provisions requiring special use approval of mineral extraction operations in A-2 agricultural zones, Wildman said. In 1976, commissioners adopted regulations requiring special use permits for mining opera- tions in all county zones. Wildman said the new rules gave great weight to the compatibility of the operation with neighboring uses "and the reactions o[ adjoining property owners." R'ildman told Adjustment Board members, "If you back me up, you're not denying the company. It would just require that the com- pany go before the Planning Commission and commissioners for a special use permit. The commissioners should make the final de- termination in this matter." Attorney Stan Kent,' representing several property owners in the area, said the owners would appear at any public hearing to oppose the use of the 219-acre site. "We submit that this is not a mining district like Cripple Creek," Kent said. "This is agri- cultural land. There also are fears that mining there could lower the water table, threatening wells in the area." Assistant County Attorney Chuck Berry said, however, that the nonconforming use extends to the entire tract and that "commissioners can't deny the operation. I'm aware the neigh- bors object, but they have legal remedies if Daniels infringes on their rights. "If the case went to court, I feel the court would overturn Wildman's ruling." Residents attending the meeting huddled after the board's decision, but they declined to say whether they planned an appeal.