Item 1: PH on Ordinance Amending Metro Plan (Delta Sand and Gravel)

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said Delta excavated approximately 7 acres of land per year and reclaimed 5 of those acres. His dream for the land was to see the land eventually developed into a regional park with miles of river frontage and a lake. Alan Babb, 695 Fair Oaks Drive, spoke as the manager of Delta Sand and Gravel. He said the application was enough to show that all criteria and rules. for expansion had been met. He urged the commissions to remember that the application was for an addition to an existing site and there would be no change in operations or additional trucks and truck routes. He said the land in question was not good farm land. He noted that he had done a lot of farm work onthe land himself. He noted that some of the land was impossible to plow because of the amount of gravel in ~he soil. Mr. Babb stressed that Delta was one of the few businesses that provided family wage jobs that had insurance benefits and pension for employees. He stressed that 217 families depended on Delta for their wages. He stressed that Delta offered extraordinary family wage jobs. Mr. Babb said the current site had approximately. ten years of resource left to extract. He said the time left to the operation was important for decisions that had to be made regarding machinery purchase. He said the expansion was vital for continued operations. Dan Stotter, on behalf of Santa Clara Neighborho.od Association, requested that the record be left open for 60 days to allow informed decision making by the co~ssions. He noted that many of the same experts who had spoken for Delta Sand and Gravel were not highly thought of by their scientific peers and had presented 'poor science' to the commissions. He said he had experts in geology, noise, ground water, flood impacts, wetlands, transportation and environmental resources who all needed 45 to 60 days to respond to the material presented by the applicant. Mr. Stotler noted that the area in question was in close proximity to dense residential neighborhoods and schools and there were significant potential impacts. He added that the burden was on the applicant to show that there would be no impacts to surrounding areas. He reiterated that the applicant was proViding poor scientific evidence. He raised concern over potential flooding in the area. He submitted written material into the record. Robert Funk, 428 Gerald Avenue, maintained that the variances ~ought by the applicant would have potential flooding impacts. H~ said the impermeable wall was essentially an under ground dam that would cause the flooding of ground water in the surround.ing area. He also raised concern over dust generated on the site and extra traffic from the site' during summer months. Jim Neppler, 49 Salty Way, said 100 home owners would be adversely affected by the expansion. He noted that his son had an asthma condition and raised concern over dust emanating from the quarry site. He expressed his'distrust of the Delta Sand and Gravel Study. He commented that there needed to be more study of wind patterns to see how dust emitted from the quarry would dissipate. He added that it was the role of the commissions to determine if the applicant had met the criteria for approval but stressed that there was also a value judgment to be made on the part qfthe c<?mmissions. He said homeown~rs would lose property value if the application were approved. MINUTES~Lane County Planning Commission : Eugene.Planning Commission ". Noyember.l5, 2005 Page 6