County can’t undo approval of mine haul road
by B. William Poole on Dec. 17, 2008, under Local, SpecialThe Pima County Board of Supervisors can’t revoke a permit for a road through a flood plain in Davidson Canyon near Vail, despite nearby residents’ pleas.
The road would serve as a “haul road” for trucks at a California Portland Cement limestone mine planned for the area east of Tucson. Nearby residents had hoped the county could block the mine by denying the flood plain use permit.
But the county, which approved the permit last month, can’t revoke it unless California Portland violates it, said board Chairman Richard Elías.
“Today we have no legal authority to (revoke the permit),” Elias said after discussing the revocation with a county lawyer in executive session.
Several residents from the area objected to the permit, saying it would damage a valuable riparian area and endanger mine workers because access for emergency vehicles could be blocked by flooding on the road.
“It is clear that Permit Denial Conditions involving safety and emergency access were not taken into consideration for the issuance of the Davidson Canyon Haul Road (permit),” area resident Kim Rego told the board in a letter.
County regulations require that the road provide access for emergency vehicles, something that the Corona De Tucson Fire Department chief questions.
“Without proper all-weather roads and access there is potential for no emergency services being able to arrive on scene in a reasonable amount of time,” Chief Bruce Whitehouse told the board.
The inability to revoke the permit does not mean the board supports the mine, Elías said as he held up 15 letters and memos from the board opposing it.
The letters date to January 2005, he said.
“There is nobody on this board who sits in support of (the mine). That has nothing to do with this flood plain ordinance,” Elias said.
Because the requirements for the permit are narrow, county lawyers were unable to find legal justification to block or revoke it, said Assistant County Attorney Chris Aboud.
“This board is without jurisdiction at this time,” he told the supervisors.
Supervisor Ann Day asked that county engineers keep a close eye on the road and alert supervisors to potential ways to revoke the permit.
Elías asked County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry to review the application for possible errors.
County buys ranch
The board also agreed to buy more than 5,000 acres of the Sands Ranch in the Cienega Valley east of Tucson for $21 million.
The purchase will be funded with 2004 county open space bonds. The supervisors two weeks ago agreed to acquire control of more than 14,000 acres of the Sopori Ranch near Arivaca for $18.6 million.
The ranches will become part of the county’s open space conservation lands holdings. Ranch lands in the county are a high acquisition priority for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, the county’s nationally recognized master plan that identifies land to conserve or develop.
The county has acquired rights to more than 150,000 acres for conservation using 2004 bond funds.
