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HomeMy WebLinkAbout193-93 • • • RESOLUTION NO. 193-93 A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS ADDING AN APPENDIX TO THE CONSERVATION ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code section 65353 , the Town' s Planning Commission held a public hearing and considered an Appendix to the Conservation Element of the General Plan regarding mineral resources; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code section 65355, the City Council held a public hearing considering such Appendix; and WHEREAS, the State Board of Mines and Geologyreviewed and made comments on the Appendix, which comments were generally incorporated into the Appendix. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Los Altos Hills does RESOLVE as follows: Section 1. The City Council deems it to be in the public interest to adopt the Appendix, attached hereto as Exhibit A, and hereby approves and adopts the Appendix to the Conservation Element of the General Plan regarding mineral resources. Section 2 . The City Council determines that the adoption of this Appendix is categorically exempt (Class 4) from the California Environmental Quality Act. REGULARLY passed and adopted this 1st day of December 1993, by the following vote: AYES : Mayor Johnson and Councilmembers Dauber, Hubbard. Siegel and Tryon NOES : None ABSENT: None ABSTAINING: None / By: Mayor Town of v _ •1 tos wills ATTEST: Ci y Clerk PB\MAS\149490L3.W50 • • • APPENDIX TO CONSERVATION ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS This Appendix is required by the State of California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975. Public Resources Code Section 2710 et seq(SMARA) and the State Mining and Geology Board Policy. California Code of Regulations, Chapter 8,Title 14 Sections 3675-3676. The State Mining and Geology Board has designated an area adjacent to the Town of Los Altos Hills as an area of significant mineral resources. The State designation is known as "Sector Z-Construction Aggregate Resource Area - Greenstone deposit located in the Los Altos Hills southwest of the City of Los Altos in northwestern Santa Clara County". See Special Report 146,Part II and SMARA Designation Report No. 7. This area is in two ownerships. Area 1 is approximately 282 acres and is owned by the Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space District. Area 2 is approximately 78 acres and is owned by John Vidovich et al and contains the area formerly known as the Neary Quarry. As of November, 1993,both areas are in the unincorporated area of the County of Santa Clara and in the sphere of interest of the Town of Los Altos hills. Area 1 is part of Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve owned by the Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space District. The Town of Los Altos Hills will not seek to include this area in its urban service area nor will it annex this area into its corporate limits since this property does not need municipal services. The use of this area as publicly owned open space is incompatible with mining of the mineral deposits on this property. Since the Town of Los Altos Hills will not annex Area 1,the County of Santa Clara is the lead agency for purposes of SMARA. Area 2 is located west of Interstate 280 between El Monte and Magdalena. The area is bounded on the north northwest and south by Stonebrook Drive. It is contiguous to the Town of Los Altos Hills. Quarry operations began in 1934 to provide fill and crushed stone to construct Moffet Field. The quarry was operated by John Sondgroth and Sons from 1934 until 1940 and Sondgroth Brothers operated it until 1962. George Neary then operated the quarry until 1975 when Patton Brothers Construction took over. A Reclamation Plan was approved by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara in April, 1989. The Plan was based upon the future site conditions following an additional 10 years of operations. The Plan contemplates an • 101 • • additional 475,000 cubic yards of minerals would be removed prior to completion of quarrying. The Neary-Vidovich Quarry Reclamation Plan Annual Monitoring Report- County of Santa Clara File No: 2674-12-70-85P received by the County December 18, 1991 states on page 2, "There have not been any (mining) operations at the Quarry since May 31, 1989. The owner has determined that (mining) operations at the Quarry will not be resumed." The Town of Los Altos Hills supports the decision of the owner to cease mining operations. It plans to include the area within its urban service area and annex the property into the Town following its approval of a tentative subdivision map for residential development. No quarry operations are allowed within the Town of Los Altos Hills. A residential subdivision of Area 2 would result in the permanent removal of significant mineral resources from potential production. Public Resources Code Section 2762 requires that,prior to permitting a use in an area containing important mineral resources,the Town must prepare a statement specifying its reasons for permitting the proposed use: From 1934 to May 31, 1989,the Neary Quarry has used as its only haul route Stonebrook Drive to El Monte and Interstate 280. Stonebrook is a city street;it is steep and winding. La Loma Drive,Prospect and a number of cul-de-sacs also use Stonebrook to exit their homes. The General Plan of the Town requires a minimum lot size of one acre. These large lots have resulted in low density residential development with very high value. This type of development is occurring in the area using the Stonebrook haul route. For example,the McCullouch Subdivision of 32 lots has access only on Stonebrook. This subdivision, along with others on Prospect, approved since the quarry was closed,have added to the traffic on Stonebrook. There would be no way to mitigate the conflict between increased residential traffic and the resumption of quarry hauling. The Town therefore finds that residential development of the quarry overrides the loss to the region of the remaining quarry material. In order to comply with California Code of Regulations Section 3676 (c) 3,the Town will record on property titles in the affected mineral resource areas, a notice identifying the mineral deposit. The notice will be recorded when the property is annexed to the Town.