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~~ - q ~-o. <br />~7 <br />Apri127, 2004 <br />Division of Minerals and Geology " <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />To Whom it May Concern, <br />RECEIVED ~ <br />MAY 0 3 2004 <br />Division of Minerals & GealagY <br />I am writing concerning Everist Materials, LLC's application Co convert an existing <br />Construction Materials Limited Impact (110) Reclamation Permit to a Regular (112) <br />Reclamation Permit with the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board under the <br />provisions of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act for 'the Extraction of <br />Constructio/n Materials. <br />I am opposed to this proposed permit for a number of reasons and I feel it is necessary for <br />this agency to understand the background of the area in question. Over the past l0 years <br />there has been a significant change to the Swan Valley, where the Mascot Placer <br />Operation is located. The valley has been transformed into a residential area with <br />numerous subdivisions in the valley and adjacent hillsides. The Breckenridge public golf <br />course, which is at the base of Swan Valley, has recently been expanded and new <br />subdivisions surrounding the golf course have been developed. The town of <br />Breckenridge, and Summit County are in the process of acquiring over 1800 acres in the <br />area and designating it as open space. Tiger Road, which follows the Swan River has <br />recently been paved for several miles, and the last mile and a half paid for by a Special <br />Improvement District made up of the land owners adjacent to Tiger Road, and outside of <br />the Breckenridge Town limits. In short, the Swan Valley is not an industrial area, rather <br />a residential and recreational oriented area. <br />Prior to Everist Materials acquisition of this property, the previous owner tried twice to <br />expand the existing operations to include rock crushing. The proposal was rejected by <br />the Summit County Planning Commission once and withdrawn a second time because of <br />opposition to the commercialization of the Swan Valley. In addition to the Planning <br />Commission, a long range plan has been adopted for the area as a guideline for <br />development, and expansion of commercial activity in any manner, would be in direct <br />opposition to those planning principles. I believe that this application process is an <br />attempt to circumvent the local planning authorities and the neighborhoods directly <br />impacted by this permit, because of [he fierce local opposition. <br />Granting this regular Reclamation Permit for a period of 10 years is unnecessary for <br />current operations, and limits the ability to review those operations (via the reapplication <br />of the limited use pet7nit, and other county planning processes) within the ten year period. <br />If the valley changes only half as much as it has in the past 10 years, a commercial <br />operation of any type will be completely incompatible with the valley, and is virtually <br />Cr~LQ <br />