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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2.0 PC Staff Report 08.10.1994• • PC 8/10/94 PROJECT INFORMATION AND STAFF COMMENTS REQUEST: Special Use Permit for a commercial logging operation APPLICANT: Joan L. Savage LOCATION: A tract of land located in portions of Sections 29, 30 and 32, T7S, R94W of the 6th PM; more practically described as a tract of land located approximately ten (10) miles south of Rulison, between Cache Creek and Cottonwood Creek. SITE DATA,: 960 acres WATER: N/A SEWER: N/A ACCESS: Via County Road 301 EXISTING ZONING: A/R/RD ADJACENT ZONING: A/R/RD & O/S I_ RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN The parcel is located in "Unclassified Lands" of the Garfield County Comprehensive Plan. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSAL A. Site Descri ion: The site is located between Cache Creek and Cottonwood Creek, and is currently used for ranching purposes. The site ranges in elevation from 8,200 to approximately 9,800 feet. The area is heavily vegetated, with significant timber. A vicinity map is shown on page ?• . B. Project Description: The applicant is requesting a special use permit for a commercial logging operation. The request to allow the logging of 960 acres of aspen and saw timber on the site. The applicant describes the purpose of the operation is to "harvest timber for commercial timber, construction of a cabin, increase livestock forage and to increase water absorption into the soils and • • aquifers. Operations are proposed to consist of road construction and timber harvesting of one or more crews of 5-6 men each. The operation has proposed to start access road construction in the summer of 1994 and timber cutting in the fall/winter of 1994/95. The applicant proposes to cut approximately 3 5 million board feet of saw timber and 20,000 tons of Aspen. It is estimated that there will be 300 truck trips from the site to a railhead west of Rifle. The haul route is proposed to be from a private access road through a portion of National Forest to County Road 301 to County Road 320 to the Rulison or Rifle Interchange and then via frontage road or I-70 to the railhead. Worker access and related trips is estimated to be 6-10 round trips daily. III. MAJOR ISSUES AND CONCERNS A. Zoning: Site for extraction, processing, storage or material handling of natural resources are special uses in the A/R/RD zone district. As a special use, certain requirements must be met: 5.03 (1) Utilities adequate to provide water and sanitation service based on accepted engineering standards and approved by the Environmental Health officer shall either be in place or shall be constructed in conjunction with the proposed use; (2) Street improvements adequate to accommodate traffic volume generated by the proposed use and to provide safe, convenient access to the use shall either be in place or shall be constructed in conjunction with the proposed use; Design of the proposed use is organized to minimize impact on and from adjacent uses of land through installation of screen fences or landscape materials on the periphery of the lot and by location of intensively utilized areas, access points, lighting and signs in such a manner as to protect established neighborhood character. (3) 5.03.07 (1) An impact statement demonstrating that the application shall be designed and operated in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations of the County, State and Federal governments, and will not have a significant adverse effect upon: (A) Existing lawful use of water through depletion or pollution of surface run- off, stream flow or ground water; (B) Use of adjacent land through generation of vapor, dust, smoke, noise, glare or vibration, or other emanations; (C) Wildlife and domestic animals through creation of hazardous attractions, alteration or existing native vegetation, blockade of migration routes, use patterns or other disruptions. (2) Truck and automobile traffic to and from such uses shall not create hazards or nuisances to areas elsewhere in the County; • 1 (3) Sufficient distances shall separate such use from abutting property which might otherwise be damaged by operations of the proposed uses; (4) Permits shall be granted for those uses only with the provisions that a satisfactory rehabilitation plan for the affected land be submitted prior to commencement of such use. 5_03. 08 Indus trial Performance Standards. All industrial operations in the County shall comply with applicable County, State and Federal regulations regulating water, air and noise pollution and shall not be conducted in a manner constituting a public nuisance or hazard. Operations shall be conducted in such a manner as to minimise heat, dust, smoke, vibration, glare and odor and all other undesirable environmental effects beyond the boundaries of the property in which such uses are located, in accord with the following standards: (1) Volume of the sound generated: every use shall be so operated that the volume of sound inherently and recurrently generated does not exceed ninety (90) decibels, with a maximum increase of five (5) decibels permitted for a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes in any one (1) hour, at any point of any boundary line of the property on which the use is located; (2) Vibration generated: every use shall be so operated that the ground vibration inherently and recurrently generated is not perceptible, without instruments, at any point of any boundary line of the property on which the use is located; (3) Emissions of smoke and particulate matter: every use shall be operated so as to comply with all Federal, State and County air quality laws, regulations and standards; (4) Emission of heat, glare, radiation and fumes: every use shall be so operated that it does not emit heat, glare, radiation or fumes which substantially interfere with the existing use of adjoining property or which constitutes a public nuisance or hazard. Flaring of gases, aircraft warning signals, reflective painting of storage tanks, or other such operations which may be required by law as safety or air pollution control measures shall be exempted from this provision; (5) Water pollution: in a case in which potential hazards exist, it shall be necessary to install safeguards designed to comply with the Regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency before operations of the facilities may begin. 5.03.12 Access Routes: All conditional uses and special uses must be provided with access routes of adequate design to accommodate traffic volume generated by the proposed use and to provide safe, convenient access for the use constructed in conjunction to the proposed use. The minimum design standards shall be the Garfield County Road Specifications. 3 SO • • The following are the staff responses to the applicant's proposal: 5.03. (1) The proposed operation has no need for fixed utilities; water will be hauled onto the site for drinking purposes. (2) The applicant has proposed to improve and exist' four-wheel drive and construction of approximately five (5) miles of haul roads./ A portion of these roads cross over National Forest lands and the Rifle Ranger District office of the White River National Forest has noted a need by tie applicant to acquire a right-of-way across the National Forest lands (see page • ). The applicant has proposed two directions once CR 301 is reached. One would to the Rulison I-70 interchange via CR 301 and the other would go from CR 301 to CR 320 to the Rifle I-70 interchange. The first route is shorter use of County roads to access the railyard and 1-70. It also does not require any vehicles to go through portions of Rifle. Staff recommends that the haul route be limited to CR 301 to the Rulison I-70 interchange. Worker access does not have the same limitation. Overweight vehicles will be required to obtain a permit from the County Road and Bridge Department prior to initiating any activity. (3) Adjacent uses are public lands and the applicant has proposed to have a timber cutting plan prepared by a consultant. This timber cutting plan needs to be reviewed by the Colorado State Forester and modifications made based on that review. 5.03.07 (1)(a) Surface Water Impacts: The applicant has stated that there will be no use of water. Surface run-off and pollution is proposed to be controlled by 50 to 100 foot selective cut buffer zones and all roads are proposed to have adequate water bars to prevent excessive runoff. These issues need to be further defined in the timber cutting plan with specific designs and locations for culverts, water bars and other erosion/runoff protection measures. (b) Impacts on Adjacent Lands: Impacts on adjacent lands are projected to be from engine exhaust, dust, smoke from slash burning and noise from equipment. Since the adjacent lands are public, impacts should be negligible and temporary in terms of times. (c) Wildlife Impact: An elk calving ground has been identified to the northwest. No timber cutting will occur during the elk calving season. The timber cutting is intended to improve wildlife and domestic forage values and any other negative impacts should be temporary. (2) Truck and Automobile Impacts: In the previous comments on road issues is a recommended haul route. Other related issues that need to be addressed are the maximum number of haul trips per day, the days and hours of hauling. Staff would recommend that the maximum number of haul trips per day be ten (10) and that hauling only occur Monday through Friday, between the hou'`of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.. t/- (3) • • Distance from adjacent property: The application proposes a 50 foot tree buffer on property boundaries. This is acceptable, if it is not modified by the State Forest Service as a part of their recommendations after reviewing the timber cutting plan. (4) Site Rehabilitation; The applicant proposes to have all timber haul roads and yards reseeded and/or barred and stabilized to eliminate erosion. All streams will be left with a buffer of undisturbed areas and slash will be windrowed strategically to eliminate erosion. Staff assumes that this will be dealt with in better detail in the timber management plan. (5) Water Pollution: This issue was addressed in the previous comments on water use. The timber management plan should address these issues further. Section 5.03.12 A finding of a safe access route is tied to the access agreements with the U.S. Forest Service. The issuance of a permit from the Forest Service should be required, before a Special Use permit is issued. IV. SUGGESTED FINDINGS 1. That the public meeting before the planning commission was extensive and complete, that all pertinent facts, matters and issues were submitted and that all parties were heard at the meeting. 2. That the proposed special use conforms to the application requirements of the Garfield County Zoning Resolution of 1978, as amended. 3. That the proposed land use will be compatible with existing and permitted land uses in all directions if appropriate conditions are attached to the permit. 4. That the proposed use will comply with all applicable standards contained in the Garfield County zoning Resolution of 1978, as amended. 5. That for the above stated and other reasons, the proposed special use is consistent with the best interest of the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity and welfare of the citizens of Garfield County. V. RECOMMENDATION That the Planning Commission recommend APPROVAL, of the proposed commercial logging operations as a natural resource extraction operation, with the following conditions of approval 1. That all verbal and written proposals of the applicant shall be considered condition of approval, unless specified otherwise by the Board of County Commissioners. 2. That prior to issuance of a Special Use permit, a timber management plan be submitted to the Planning Department, that has been reviewed by the Colorado State Forest Service and modified as appropriate. OP SW • 1 3. That all timber hauling be on Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 4. The haul route for timber and other overweight service vehicles will be CR 301 to the Rulison I-70 interchange. Additionally, an overweight vehicle permit will be acquired for each vehicle needing such permit. 5. That prior to issuance of the Special Use permit, a permit for an access route shall be acquired from the White River National Forest Service. / • • w (n W •__C wo . • 01 •