Hood River Sand & Gravel revives plans for Mosier
Mar, 05 2007
Residents strongly oppose plan during historic highway meeting Friday
(MOSIER, Oregon) — Hood River Sand, Gravel & Ready-Mix has revived its effort to haul rock out of the rock pit Mosier residents have worked for the better part of a decade to keep closed.
Friday, company representative Peter Shames came to Mosier to present an informational proposal to the Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee. The proposal asks the committee to support developing a bridge and haul road through the closed rock pit owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), across Rock Creek, linking with what the proposal describes as a “historic haul road” and ultimately connecting with the Historic Columbia River Highway a few dozen feet north of the trailhead for the Mosier Twin Tunnels. From there, the company would haul rock out of its quarry east of ODOT's.
The property includes about 2 million tons of rock that Hood River Sand & Gravel wants to haul out by 50,000 to 100,000 tons per year over the remaining 30 years of its permit, Shames said. The companies permit allows hauling from Oct. 1 through May 14 each year, but Shames said typical hauling times are from November through February, when cement work is not being done. The plan equates to between 30 and 40 rounds trips by trucks each hauling 30,000 pounds of rock.
To sweeten the deal, the road would include access features intended for pedestrian and bicycle use, allowing the many trail users who travel the haul route in the spring, summer and fall months as an alternative to the highway.
“Pedestrians and cyclists would be able to use it instead of negotiating those hairpin turns,” Shames said.
But speakers among the 50-some attendees at a meeting at Mosier Terrace made their opposition to the plan abundantly clear to the committee.
“This one doesn't pass the laugh test,” said Brent Foster, executive director of Columbia Riverkeepers and a Mosier resident.
Foster questioned the prospect of disruption to current environmental recovery and return of steelhead in Rock Creek, a stream that “has been used and abused in a way not many in the gorge have.”
Among other comments, Foster suggested Hood River Sand & Gravel sell its quarry property for a reasonable price, rather than open a new haul road or the old ODOT road, which was suggested for revisiting as an alternative to the historic highway.
Foster's statements, which included other issues, produced a loud round of applause — one of many throughout the morning for opponents of the plan.
Other issues raised through public comment included:
• the problems produced by industrial traffic in close proximity of residential neighborhoods and schools,
• the danger of mixing industrial hauling traffic with pedestrian uses for the Twin Trails and Rock Creek park already common on that stretch of the historic highway in all seasons (In fact, travel to a site visit Friday for the prospective haul road saw pedestrian traffic on the historic highway lanes near both the Rock Creek and Twin Tunnels entrances.),
• the potential for devastating effects to the city's tourism-based economy,
• the health-damaging effects of flying rock dust,
• the ability of that stretch of the historic highway and its Rock Creek Bridge to handle the weight over time of 30 round trips per day of trucks carrying 30,000 pounds of rock.
Mac Jervey, a rural Mosier resident and Wasco County planning commissioner, who noted that he spoke only as a private citizen, observed that a new haul road would constitute a significant addition to what is already a nonconforming use within Mosier's urban growth boundary.
Jeannette Kloos, president of Friends of the Historic Columbia River Highway said taking recreational traffic off the highway would not be a benefit.
“It's not something the Friends think would be a benefit to the users,” she said. “When they come to see the highway, taking them off the highway and putting them in a different place is not something that helps them learn about the highway.”
Residents also recalled experiences from the last time Hood River Sand and Gravel operated its rock pit in Mosier.
Ron Carroll, of the advocacy group Friends of Mosier, said residents had called repeatedly to report blasting in the pit, despite the activity's not being allowed under the company's permit.
Blasting hadn't taken place, but Carroll explained, “The rock was falling so far into the empty trucks it sounded like explosions. This is not in the middle of the grass somewhere, it's in the heart of Mosier.”
Carroll also noted that the company has filed two Measure 37 claims against Mosier, one in the company's name and one in the name of its owner, Howard Houston. Carroll noted that the Houston property is outside city limits, so administered by Wasco County, but that the claims center on property the company and Houston do not own: the ODOT haul road.
“Now they're asking the state to give them a gift for bad behavior,” Carroll said, shaking his head.
City Councilor Iva Harmon, 81, noted that while observing the company's traffic on the former ODOT haul road Hood River Sand & Gravel trucks coming by every 30 minutes went off the roadway to throw dust on her.
“There's nothing kind about Hood River Sand & Gravel,” she said. “If they would abuse an old lady, they'd abuse anybody.”
Shames, the company representative, responded to criticism about the company's integrity and operating practices by welcoming opportunities for conversation.
“I appreciate the community's concerns,” Shames said. “We're looking for solutions that would accommodate everyone.”
Shames also noted that the company's property contains an active slide, which makes the property unusable for any other purposes. Rock removal, he contends, would stabilize the site.
The advisory committee noted that Friday's meeting was informational only. A further public process including review by the Oregon Park Department, which owns property west of Rock Creek, and a conditional use permit process through Wasco County.
By KATHY GRAY
of The Chronicle
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