San Rafael Rock Quarry

Overview

The conflict between the SRRQ and its neighbors stems directly from the quarry's modus operandi under the stewardship of Bill Dutra. Contrary to the quarry's belief that it can operate with impunity because the neighbors "should have known they were moving in next to a quarry", many residents purchased their home with the legitimate expectation that the quarry would abide by its 1982 Reclamation Plan specifying that operations would cease by 1993.  To the contrary, Bill Dutra who purchased the quarry in 1986, illegally increased the intensity and scope of its operations with resultant increases in dust, diesel, noise, traffic, visual, and blasting impacts. For a much more complete history of the San Rafael Rock Quarry, click here or on the History link above. A more recent photo of the quarry (taken July 28, 2008) can be seen here.

Environmental review is underway on the San Rafael Rock Quarry’s applications for an Amended Reclamation Plan (ARP 2004) and a new operating permit, applications that were submitted to the Marin County Department of Public Works over two years ago. Two separate but associated applications are being reviewed in tandem:

The Amended Reclamation Plan

This describes how the site would be mined through completion of the operation, including a conceptual plan for its reuse at the conclusion of mining. A reclamation plan, which is required by state mining law, is supposed to assure that adverse environmental effects of the extraction process are prevented or minimized, and that when mining is completed the site is adaptable for another use. The quarry is currently operating under a reclamation plan approved in 1982 (ARP 1982), and has long since exceeded the extraction limits described in that plan.

The ARP proposed by Dutra (ARP 2004) describes mining the site for another 17 years to an ultimate depth of 400 feet. Its proposed mining plan would involve a massive, continuous – and unnecessary – earthmoving program that would intensify impacts on the community and the environment. Some two million tons of dirt would be moved closer to adjacent properties and noise and dust would increase well above their present levels.

The ARP also proposes the same future reuse as the 1982 plan:

• 350 residential units, including single family in the Northeast and Northwest Quadrants, marina-front second story apartments and town houses in the both quadrants and on terraces on the south side of the South Hill.
• Two commercial/mixed use areas: an administrative-professional complex in the Northwest Quadrant and marina commercial in the Southeast Quadrant around the lagoon and on the bayfront. Uses to include retail, yacht sales, hardware store, restaurants and hotel - and possibly a ferry terminal.
• A marina lagoon constructed by flooding the bowl from the bay, and a 600-slip marina and yacht club.

Note that approval of a reclamation plan would not approve the described or proposed land uses. The governing policy documents for land use on the site are the Marin Countywide general plan and the San Rafael general plan.

Unfortunately neither the current draft of the new Marin Countywide Plan nor the recently approved San Rafael 2020 general plan include tangible policy standards for redevelopment of the quarry site.

A Mining and Quarrying Permit

This is akin to a business use permit, describing or limiting, for example, hours of operation, truck traffic on public roads, barge and loading operations, maximum vibration from blasting, etc. In this application the quarry proposes adopting most of the interim operating conditions contained in Judge John Sutro’s court order as permanent rules of operation.

In November 2005 the county began accepting comments on issues to be studied in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the ARP04 and a January “scoping session” was held at St. Luke’s Church for this purpose. The Point San Pedro Road Coalition’s comments are on this web site. The Coalition asked that an alternative be considered that would eliminate the need for an enormous amount of trucking, noise, dust and earth-moving, reduce the intensity of development in the proposed reuse plan and allow for immediate reclamation of the marsh areas and brick resource area.

The Mining and Quarrying Permit is undergoing preliminary analysis by county EIR consultants now and a public comment period regarding environmental impacts associated with the operations plan may take place in early summer.

It will take several months to prepare the interconnected EIRs and the completed documents will be subject to public hearings, possibly in fall of 2006. Final action on the dual applications by the County Board of Supervisors could take place this year or in early 2007.

IMPORTANT

It is crucial that members of the public continue to inform the county about quarry activities that disrupt their lives; these include blasting, vibration, truck traffic and debris. Write or email your complaints, questions or comments to Eric Steger (see the Operating Conditions page or the Marin County Contacts page).

The community is also urged to write letters and e-mails to the County and its agencies (e.g., community planning, traffic dept., etc.) regarding the SRRQ operations, plans and the EIR (See Marin County page in the Contacts / Links section).