[NOTE: For more Quarry info, see the San Rafael Rock Quarry Index in the Library/Archives and for detailed information regarding the production levels of the Quarry, go to the Quarry: Production History page.]
The San Rafael Rock Quarry has been in operation since the 1870s. For decades, the Quarry site was zoned “heavy industrial.” In 1982, the site was rezoned to residential/commercial because the Quarry’s then owner anticipated closing down the operation and proposed a new land use. Upon rezoning, ongoing quarrying activity became a legal “nonconforming use” whereby the Quarry owners could continue to use the site as it was used at the time of the rezoning, but could not expand or intensify operations. Legal nonconforming uses are effectively frozen in time until they cease, so as to protect other developments that spring up around that use in anticipation of its ultimate demise. The Quarry owners did not object to the zoning change and stated their expectation that the Quarry would likely be shut down by the early 1990s. In anticipation of the Quarry’s closure, new homes were entitled by the City of San Rafael and built in close proximity to the Quarry. The inherent incompatibility of an industrial mining operation in a residential and recreational area became all the more obvious once these new homes were built and occupied.
Dutra Group Takes Over
In 1986, Dutra Group purchased the site, with knowledge of its nonconforming status, but ignored the limitations against expansion and intensification. This effectively subjected residents to expanded operations instead of the anticipated closure. Hours and output expanded, truck trips, noise and dust increased substantially, and buildings were erected without permits. Neighbors were impacted far more intensively than ever before. A 2001 Grand Jury investigation questioned the efficacy of County oversight of the operation (see, Who’s Minding the Rock Quarry?). Neighbors complained for years about noise, dust, trucks, vibrations and blasting from Quarry operations.
Lawsuit Leads to Permit Amendment and Updated Reclamation Plan
After negotiations failed to produce meaningful controls, lawsuits were filed in 2003 by the State of California, the Pt. San Pedro Road Coalition, individual homeowners and (with some irony) the County of Marin. A trial was held to determine the Quarry’s vested rights, given its nonconforming use status. Judge John Sutro ordered an injunction ceasing all operations unless an Amended Reclamation Plan (ARP) was approved. The Quarry submitted a proposed ARP and amended operating permit. The court then suspended the injunction, thereby allowing operations to continue under temporary operating conditions while the process of approving the proposed ARP and permit was conducted.
Over the next six years, an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was completed for both the ARP and the updated operating permit. The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the EIR in October 2009. The EIR found 15 significant environmental impacts, among them an incompatibility with residential and recreational land uses. In addition, the ARP provided for mining to a depth of 400 feet below sea level and flooding the bowl with bay water at the end of mining. Due to the depth, a dead zone would be created at the bottom unless a mechanical method of mixing of the water could be ensured, which would be a commitment in perpetuity. (These documents can be viewed in the Library/Archive)
Following approval of the EIR, the Board of Supervisors initiated a review and hearing process, culminating in the approval on September 28, 2010, of an Amended Operating Permit and Reclamation Plan for the Quarry (see also a summary of the permit). The Coalition argued that all studies concerning mitigations needed to be complete before the permits could be granted. However, the Quarry was given one year after the issuance of the permit to complete the studies. In late 2010, the Coalition waived the right to challenge the legality of allowing the issuance of the permit prior to completion of the studies in exchange for a commitment from the Quarry to provide materials for the repaving of Pt. San Pedro Road with sound mitigating asphalt—a project that was completed in 2014. The approved 2010 Quarry permit contained 172 conditions. Among the most important conditions, were:
- Repaving of 3.5 miles of Pt. San Pedro Road with open-graded asphalt to reduce road noise
- Enclosure of noisy quarry operations
- Changes in blasting procedures
- Reducing operating hours, including barging hours
- Air Testing
- Marsh Restoration
- Ongoing dialogue with our community
Quarry Seeks to Expand Operations
In July 2013, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a request by the Quarry to amend the Quarry’s operating permit (See Quarry Permit Amendment). The proposed amendment would allow the Quarry to import asphalt road grindings (basically, torn up asphalt resulting from road repaving) for recycling into new road asphalt. During the administrative process of considering the proposed amendment, the Coalition objected to the proposed amendment because the 2004 lawsuit (see above) concluded that importation of asphalt grindings had never been a part of the site’s operations, and therefore could not be allowed after the property was rezoned and the operation became a nonconforming use. The Coalition argued that whether recycling was desirable was irrelevant; the Quarry’s operations cannot be expanded beyond its legal nonconforming use and allowing asphalt recycling constituted an impermissible expansion of that use. The court’s 2004 decision held that asphalt recycling was an unlawful expansion of Quarry operations under County law and banned it. The County even incorporated that ban in the Quarry’s amended permit approved in 2010, which was part of the basis of the Coalition agreeing to waive future challenges to the permit at that time. Thus, the Quarry’s attempt to amend the permit in 2013 was both an attempt to expand the operation illegally, but also, in the Coalition’s view, a failure to abide by the prior good faith agreement.
County Approves Permit Amendment, Coalition Sues and Wins, Quarry Appeals
In October 2013, the Board of Supervisors approved the Quarry’s proposed permit amendment allowing the Quarry to import recycled asphalt onto the site. The Coalition promptly filed a lawsuit against both the Quarry and the County requesting that the amendment be nullified. Various procedural objections were raised by the Quarry followed by a renewal of the amendment by the County in 2015. The Coalition filed a challenge the renewal in court. Judge Paul Haakenson’s September 2016 decision held that the County’s 2015 renewal of their 2013 permit amendment allowing the Quarry to import onto the quarry site recycled asphalt material was an improper expansion of the Quarry’s nonconforming use. Shortly thereafter, the Quarry appealed the court’s decision to the California Court of Appeals. The appeal will likely be argued in late 2019.
To acquiesce in the County’s attempt to roll back the protection against future Quarry expansion would establish the precedent that the County can authorize the expansion of any non-conforming use that the Quarry may request, in violation of law, and at the expense of the surrounding neighbors’ ability to enjoy their homes to the full extent allowed under the law. The Coalition will continue to insist that the Quarry operation never expand beyond its legal nonconforming use, and will seek redress in the court system if the County continues, illegally, to favor Quarry interests over the interests of area residents.
Fall 2018 – Status Report and Current Issues
Recent Production: Production has been down at the Quarry since 2008. Approximately 342,000 tons of material was excavated and sold as product during 2017 compared to 378,000 tons in 2016. Maximum allowable annual production under the permit is roughly 1.7 million tons with a roughly 1.4 million ton limit over a 5-year rolling average. Thus, the Quarry has been operating at about a quarter of its maximum allowable production in recent years, and generally at a substantially reduced activity level relative to its maximum potential output for at least a decade. Much of this reduction is attributed to fewer state-funded construction projects on levees and other infrastructure.
NE Quadrant Reclamation: In mid-July 2018 the Quarry commenced reclamation activities in the Northeast Quadrant of the Quarry site which included extensive grading to create a berm very close to the Marin Bay Park development. The berm is intended to mitigate the noise and dust effects of mixing mining materials in that area. The permit limited this grading activity to 10 weeks per year.
Sufficiency of Reclamation Bond: An issue that has concerned the Coalition since the approval of the amended permit and reclamation plan in 2010 is whether the amount of the bond that Quarry is required to post to ensure the performance of its reclamation responsibilities is sufficient. Currently, the Quarry has posted a bond of about $6.4 million to provide reclamation funding should the Quarry become insolvent or otherwise have inadequate resources to comply with its reclamation responsibilities.
Given the extent of mining activities that has been conducted on the site for over a century, and the need to maintain a mechanical water mixing system in a to-be-flooded Quarry bowl in perpetuity, the Coalition has deep reservations about the adequacy of the bond. The Coalition remains concerned that the bond will not suffice to reclaim the land since allowing the depth of bowl to 400 feet has not included an environmental review by the agencies that will need to approve such a plan. The Coalition will continue to ask the County to justify this amount as facts change and new information becomes available.
Quarry Seeks to Extend Operations End Date
The Dutra Group, which owns the quarry at 1000 Point San Pedro Road, was granted permission by the County in 2010 to mine the site until 2024. In 2019, the company applied to extend that agreement by two decades and continue mining until 2044. The proposal needs approval from the county Board of Supervisors.
The County determined that some action would be required related to the original Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that was the basis of approving the current operating permit. To that end, the County Supervisors voted unanimously on March 17, 2020 to approve a $259,263 contract with Sicular Environmental Consulting to complete an environmental review of the proposed extension with the Dutra Group paying for the total cost. A Marin IJ article on March 18, 2020 titled “Marin County approves San Rafael quarry analysis contract” describes the contract process and intent.