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Traffic - The proposal will have a beneficial effect on traffic over the current <br />situation. Currently, Elk River Bituminous is mining sand and gravel on the west side <br />of Highway 169 and trucking it to the east side where their hot mix plant is located. <br />Elk River Bituminous' will no longer need to cross the highway or even use any <br />public roads to get product to their plant, since the proposed pit is on a parcel adjacent <br />to theirs. <br /> <br />Reclamation - Reclamation is another issue that benefits from this proposal. Elk <br />River Bituminous' current operation, west of Highway 169 and north of 213th Ave., <br />encompasses approximately 12 acres. Until this 12 acres is finished, the much larger <br />area that is being mined by CAMAS in this location can not be fully reclaimed. <br />CAMAS will be taking over Elk River Bituminous' area west of Highway 169 and <br />finishing it with much greater speed; allowing this entire area to reclaimed. <br /> <br />In the area of the proposed mine, the city's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on <br />mineral excavation identifies approximate finished elevations of 960 to 970 feet <br />above mean sea level. The contours proposed by the applicant are consistent with the <br />EIS and fit with surrounding properties. <br /> <br />Top soil from the site will be stripped, reapplied, and seeded after mining. Staff has <br />directed CAMAS to consider planting trees as part of their reclamation also. <br /> <br />Oak wilt - The proposed mining operation requires tree removal, many of which are <br />oaks. Appropriate stipulations have been included in the attached conditional use <br />permit to address the spread of oak wilt. Because of the timing of Camas' request, the <br />Planning Commission is recommending an exception to the April 15th deadline for <br />cutting trees, under staff's direction, be made this year. <br /> <br />Recommendation <br /> <br />CAMAS' proposal is fairly straight forward and simple. It allows a much larger gravel <br />mining area west of Highway 169 to be fully reclaimed in the near future and eliminates <br />Elk River Bituminous' from needing to cross Highway 169 to transport raw product to <br />their plant. The area in question was anticipated to be mined in the city's Gravel Mining <br />EIS and, therefore, was zoned ME - Mineral Excavation. <br /> <br />The owners of the parcels adjacent to the proposed mine are CAMAS themselves and Elk <br />River Bituminous. A meeting for the next ring of property owners regarding the request <br />was held at City Hall on March 16, 1998. The attached conditional use permit addresses <br />the concerns raised at this meeting. <br /> <br />s:\b&z\stever\camascup.doc <br /> <br /> <br />