Laserfiche WebLink
Exhibit A -General Project Concept <br />This special use permit application pertains to an expansion of the Miller Gravel Pit located <br />near Running Creek and about one-half mile east of County Road 21 in northern Elbert County. The <br />gravel pit has been in operation for many years and has been conducted on about 56 acres owned by <br />Rick Hunt. There was a special use permit approval provided long ago, but due to the age of the <br />permit and the many more factors the county now considers regarding land use, a new special use <br />permit was required by the county planning department. <br />In the past the gravel pit simply excavated material from a hillside of sand on dry grassland. <br />Although the pit is adjacent to the Running Creek riparian corridor the operation itself has stayed <br />completely out of that corridor. There is an existing Reclamation Permit issued by the Colorado <br />Mined Land Reclamation Board on February 24, 1983. That permit (number M-1982-112) is <br />currently being amended to include the additional land. Note: a roved on Se 24 07 <br />The change in the permit will add 74.07 acres to the existing permit. This will bring the total <br />permitted land to 130.2 acres. The land being added is mostly located immediately to the east of the <br />existing permitted land and includes a strip of land 800 feet wide on an east-west direction and 2755 <br />feet long in a north-south direction. Another smaller parcel will be added to the south end of the pit <br />to almost square off the permit into a more rectangular shape. <br />Mr. Hunt intends to use the land, after mining is completed, as a part of his large ranch. <br />Currently the land being added is used for grazing, but with a valuable sand resource below the <br />surface the value of the land for sand extraction is currently greater than it is for grazing. <br />In essence, the pit will extract the sand down to a depth of approximately 30 feet, at the most, <br />below the current surface. A more strict limitation on depth is provided by a commitment to not <br />expose groundwater which would cause evaporative losses from the alluvial aquifer that is under <br />the sand deposit. As the maps show, the final topography will produce a nearly level bottom area of <br />about 90 acres. Around the east, south, and, to a lesser extent, the north end of the mined area will be <br />slopes with a maximum grade of 3:1. These, along with the nearly flat pit bottom, will be planted <br />with alfalfa. Past reclamation of such slopes has shown good success and the simple planting of <br />alfalfa rather than a more complex grass mixture provides the utility Mr. Hunt desires for this <br />property. The planting of only alfalfa was approved by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board <br />on Apri121, 1997, through a technical revision to the Reclamation Permit. Alfalfa planting is <br />included in the revegetation plan in the current amendment to the Reclamation Permit. <br />The site itself is fairly well hidden from view. From the east and south the view is generally <br />above the mining area and is mostly obscured by the intervening rolling topography. From the county <br />road to the west (looking east) the current pit is well screened by the trees along Running Creek, but <br />with expansion some additional visibility will occur. From the north visibility is somewhat greater <br />Miller Gravel Pit -Special Use Permit Page 1 of 26 <br />