Document text
PROVOLT — State land-use officials say Jackson County should change its land development ordinance to prevent gravel from being mined under permits for excavating farm ponds. County commissioners will consider recommendations from the Department of Land Conservation and Development at their study session at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 11, development director Kelly Madding said Friday. State regulators are unhappy with the county's issuance of a permit for a farm pond near the Applegate River. State law allows construction of farm ponds. Gravel was removed from the farm, which constitutes mining, according to the DLCD. Mining would require a different land-use permit and public notice. Local residents have opposed gravel removal in the area, expressing concerns about potential impacts on the Applegate River as well as increased traffic and noise on Highway 238. They're also concerned about what they see as fundamental differences between the county ordinances and state law. "There isn't consistency in permitting," said Jimmy MacLeod, executive director of Rogue Advocates, a Williams-based land-use watchdog group. "The right and left hand don't know what the other's doing." The issue came to a head over the past year after Jackson County issued a permit allowing Copeland Sand & Gravel to excavate a 4-acre pond on property near Provolt owned by John and Wesley Hill. Copeland acquired a permit from the county for the pond and from the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries to remove 94,000 cubic yards of gravel, and began to excavate before it had acquired a permit from the Department of Water Resources to fill the pond. The Department of Water Resources refused to issue a permit to fill the pond with water, basing its decision on a review of the project by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ODFW determined that the pond would pose a significant threat to fisheries in the Applegate River, and could affect water quality. Jackson County halted the excavation after state officials denied the permit to fill the pond. DOGAMI has since ordered that the pond must be filled with soil and rock and the site reclaimed so that water is not impounded. Copeland still believes the county acted appropriately. Dan O'Connor, Copeland's attorney, argued in a letter to the county commissioners that Oregon law exempts all agricultural ponds from mining regulations. Madding, the county development director, said the county ordinance and the state statutes can be interpreted in several different ways. "The language in the statutes and the language in the (county) code leaves open for interpretation whether taking material off site triggers a land-use application," she said, "but we have taken the position that ponds are exempt." MacLeod, the land-use advocate, said the county land development ordinance leaves a loophole for mining under the guise of pond construction, and the loophole is being exploited for the commercial advantage of the aggregate. "It seems that gravel miners are looking for ways to get around existing statutes to get to the gravel," he said. O'Connor, Copeland's attorney, said excavating ponds for farmers in exchange for the gravel results in a "symbiotic relationship" that benefits both parties while promoting farming and the development of aggregate resources.