The Montezuma County commission voted 3-0 Monday to approve a controversial high-impact permit that will allow D&L Construction to conduct crushing operations and construction storage on County Road L.
The commission clarified that permit does not allow use of a hot-asphalt plant or a cement plant, which were listed in the application as possible future uses of the industrial-zoned property, located just outside the Cortez city limits at 25716 County Road L.
The potential of those uses drew sharp criticism from residential neighbors, who have expressed concerns about smoke, dust, noise and increased truck traffic as well as impacts on property values.
Applicants Dave and Lana Waters emphasized during a packed public hearing that they were only seeking approval to use the 35-acre tract for crushing and storage. County officials explained that as part of the permit application, the Waterses were required to list potential future industrial uses.
If high-impact uses other than crushing and construction were sought for the property, they would require another high-impact permit process and public hearing, said commissioner Keenan Ertel.
“To appease citizens, granting the permit, minus the hot mix and cement plant, will alleviate what we heard here today,” Ertel said. “It does not prevent them from applying for other uses later on.”
Added commissioner James Lambert, “The application is specific to crushing and storage. The rest is supposition.”
Eight citizens who spoke were against allowing industrial uses in that neighborhood. Two people spoke in favor of the project. Several of those opposed asked that the reference to the hot asphalt plant be taken out of the application language.
“There is not an asphalt plant there now, but there may be in the future and it will make my property value go down,” said nearby resident Mark Drissol.
Diane Wren, owner of Osprey Packs located nearby, took issue with the location, saying in the past industrial uses in that area have impacted employees’ health, and that use is not compatible with the nearby natural area.
Dave Waters showed the crowd a video of how he recycles materials into a crusher for use as road base and construction material.
“If we don’t recycle cement and asphalt, it gets thrown out in ditches,” he said.
Water is used to keep dust down during crushing operations, he said. Also, crushing will only be once or twice per year as it takes time to collect material, Waters said, plus the crusher is very expensive to rent.
Neighbor Candace Brantnor said the application is too vague as to what could happen at the site. She said to accommodate neighbors, operation hours need to be limited to the day and be enforced.
Larry Johnson has been in construction all his life, and said the industrial zone is a good place for D&L’s operations.
“The industry is heavily regulated,” he said. “It is not a perfect society. There is always the ‘not in my backyard,’ but these operations are the way it is.”
Developer Jim Candelaria also supported approval of the permit because there is demand to recycle construction materials.
“It is getting harder for us to get rid of products,” he said. “This is close to town, and crushing materials for recycling is a good place for it to end up.”
Paul Adams, who helps build trails on the nearby Geer Natural Area, urged that the hot-asphalt plant reference be taken out of the application, and it later was.
“The application makes it look as if it is included in the permit,” he said.
Ertel reminded the audience that the Waterses or a future owner of that property could come to the commission later for a high impact permit specifically for a hot asphalt plant or cement mix plant.
“Nothing prevents them from applying for that,” he said.
The issue has been controversial for the community.
At the April 13 planning and zoning meeting, residents objected to the permit and possible hot-asphalt plant.
But citing private property rights and an industrial zone, the county planning board recommended approval of the high-impact permit to use the land for industrial uses. They recommended the land-use permit be specific to the storage and crushing of recycled materials.
During their regular meeting April 24, county commissioners Larry Don Suckla and Keenan Ertel also expressed concerns about the potential of a hot asphalt plant at the County Road L location.
As a possible solution, the county considered using the Montezuma County landfill, south of Road F, as a more appropriate location for the asphalt plant.
Landfill manager Shak Powers reported that there is enough room for the county to lease a portion of the landfill property to the east or south, near the northwestern foot of Mesa Verde National Park.
The change in use of the landfill property to include a hot-asphalt plant would trigger a high-impact permit process, said planning director LeeAnn Milligan.
Emissions from a hot-asphalt plant at the landfill could impact air quality at the adjacent Mesa Verde National Park. As a Class I air shed, under the Clean Air Act, the park superintendent must be consulted by the permitting agency of a proposed emitting facility to determine in there are adverse impacts on national park air quality.
Mesa Verde National Park Superintendent Cliff Spencer said that if an asphalt plant was considered near the park, the plan would be analyzed for emissions impacts.
“We would have our conservation team consider this, find out more information and give us an informed analysis,” he said.
The proposed asphalt plant on Road L also has the attention of the city of Cortez because it borders city limits, and is within the city’s one-mile urban influence area.
City planners said they felt the permit application is lacking adequate information to verify how D&L Construction will mitigate impacts to surrounding property owners.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com