Clark County’s advisory body for land use planning has voted against the recommendation of a zone change that would have allowed a rock quarry in northeast Clark County, citing concerns of citizens who expressed worry about how a quarry would impact their region.
During a Dec. 15 hearing, the Clark County Planning Commission voted 3-2 against the approval of an addition of a surface mining overlay on land near Cardai Hill Road. The overlay would have been placed on a 46-acre portion of a property located east of the intersection of that road and Northwest 402nd Street.
Current conditions
The property is currently undeveloped and forested, and is zoned as forest resource land, Bart Catching, planner for Clark County, said at the hearing. Northwest 402nd Street runs through the middle of the property and currently provides road access to homes to the east of the proposed overlay area.
There is an existing surface mining overlay to the southeast of the area under consideration. Catching said that property is currently being used as a residence, not a mine.
A 2005 aggregate resource map from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources showed bedrock deposits “immediately to the south and potentially touching into the southern part of the subject property,” Catching said.
“The DNR map strongly suggests that the resource is there,” Catching said.
Catching said a study submitted by the applicant “shows a direct need for future supply of aggregate resources in the county.” Currently active surface mines are on the east and south sides of the county.
The decision at hand included only a change to the county’s zoning. Catching noted if a mine was to go in, it would have to follow a process for conditional use, which could require project-specific environmental review.
Catching said concerns over environmental, neighborhood and transportation impacts would be addressed during the conditional use process if a mine project moves forward.
“We sense the frustration in the comments that that level of environmental review is not happening right now, but that is not the procedure or policy that county staff follows for these type of overlays,” Catching said.
Staff recommended approving the overlay. Adopting the overlay change could not happen any sooner than the end of July based on the county’s annual code review schedule, Catching said.
The property had once been subject to a similar request in the late 1990s though an overlay was never placed. Staff are unsure as to whether the request was denied or the owner at the time simply stopped pursuing it. The property changed hands in 2000 when Cardai Hill Rock Quarry LLC bought it.
Residents’ concerns
Several members of the public, which included neighbors to the proposed overlay, spoke in opposition of the proposal.
Local land use advocacy group Friends of Clark County issued an appeal against the overlay, David McDonald, an attorney representing the group said. He said in 1998 the county issued a determination of significance on the site which would have consisted of environmental review not required in the current process.
“What I do know is that the county has already found that this area has significant potential adverse environmental impacts,” McDonald said.
Catching said the county has changed its process for applying overlays since the time of that determination.
McDonald acknowledged the hearing was only for adding the mining overlay, though he said it was obvious where the process was headed.
“I know a mantra here in this county is ‘hey, it’s OK, we’ll just wait for the environmental review to come later,’” McDonald said. “Once you allow the surface mining overlay, the mining company can get that (conditional use permit.)”
Woodland Community Development Director Travis Goddard also spoke. Goddard mentioned he spent 15 years working for Clark County, which included work on its existing rock quarries.
Goddard said there were 210 acres with the surface mining overlay in close proximity to the area in question, though those areas feature houses, not mines. He said the City of Woodland would be affected by a quarry’s proximity to the city’s water resources, and elevation change on the property could create noise impacts to some 1,400 homeowners in the city.
“Once you attach this zoning, the question is when and how much impact there is going to be,” Goddard said.
Cardai Hill Road is in a rural neighborhood, resident Charles Lashley said, and not meant for through traffic. Another resident, Mike Hughes, said Northwest 402nd Street is a single lane leading to his and his neighbors’ property.
“There is absolutely no room for a truck and a car to go up that road,” Hughes said.
Commission votes against approval
The majority of the planning commission took the concerns to heart.
“I think that we as a planning commission have a duty to look at the citizens that this is going to affect, and really take their testimony at heart,” Commissioner Matt Swindell said.
Swindell said if a quarry was already operating near the residential property when those owners moved in it would be a different story than what those homeowners are now facing. He likened the potential for a quarry going in next to residences as a way to “change the deal” those homeowners signed up for.
“As a planning commissioner, I take offense being told that something is not relevant,” Swindell said. “If someone has put their heart and soul into a piece of land, a family and future, we as a planning commission need to consider that heavily when making decisions on things like this.”
Commissioner Bryant Enge said the lack of information on impacts made him vote against the recommendation. Acknowledging the overlay isn’t final approval for a quarry, he said a vote for it is “tacit approval” to accept those unknown impacts.
“I can’t do that in good conscience,” Enge said.
Swindell and Enge were joined by commissioner Eldon Wogen in voting against a recommendation for approval. Commission chair Karl Johnson and commissioner Bryan Halbert voted for the approval.
Though the commission did not approve of the overlay, the final decision will still go before the Clark County Council during the annual code review process.
