SECTION 120.400 MINERAL AND AGGREGATE RESOURCE OPERATIONS Revised 12/12/02 120.410 Purpose 120.420 Definitions 120.425 Exemptions 120.430 Application Requirements 120.435 Hearing Notice 120.440 Allowable Uses 120.450 Review Criteria 120.460 Standards for Development and Operation 120.470 Non-conforming Mineral and Aggregate Operations 120.480 Supplemental Provisions 120.410 PURPOSE. The purpose of this section is to provide definitions, criteria and development standards applicable to applications for new or expanding Mineral and Aggregate Resource Operations that either (1) do not qualify as a “significant” site pursuant to OAR 660-23-180(3), or (2) (1996 version) qualify as a “significant” site and the county determines mining should be allowed. These provisions also apply to conditional use descrip­tions similar to "Mineral and Aggregate Resource Opera­tions" such as: operations conducted for mining and processing of aggregate and other minerals; mineral resource development sites; sand and gravel resource sites; mining, pits and quarry facilities. 120.420 DEFINITIONS. As used in Section 120.410 to 120.470, the following definitions apply: (A) Aggregate resources - Naturally occurring concentrations of stone, rock, sand and gravel, decomposed granite, lime, pumice, cinders, and other naturally occurring solid materi­als used in road building. (B) Existing site - An aggregate site that is lawfully opera­ting, or is included on an inventory in the comprehensive plan on September 1, 1996. (C) Expansion area - An aggregate mining area contiguous to an existing site. (D) Mining - The extraction and processing of mineral or aggre­gate resources, in the manner provided under ORS 215.298(3) (1995 edition). (E) Significant site - An aggregate resource site that satisfies the criteria in OAR 660-23-180(3) (1996 version) regarding location, quality, and quantity of the resource. 120.425 EXEMPTIONS. The following uses, activities and facili­ties do not require approval from the county. Operators or landowners claiming any of these exemptions may be asked to provide a copy of an exemption certificate issued by DOGAMI. (A) Mining and quarrying of aggregate or stone materials used on property owned by the owner of the mining and quarrying site on a non-commercial basis. (B) Cemetery operations. (C) On‑site construction operations within a County-approved building site. (D) In EFU, SA, FT, and TC zones, exploratory excavations for mineral and aggre­gate resources or surface mining that involve one thousand (1,000) cubic yards or less and/or disturbance of one (1) acre or less of ground located more than 500 feet from the property boundary. (E) Excavation operations conducted within a road right‑of-way or other easement for the primary purpose of road or utility construction, reconstruction or mainte­nance. 120.430 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. An application for a new or expanding mineral or aggregate site shall be adequate if it includes: (A) Information regarding quantity, quality, and location suffi­cient to determine whether the site is significant pursuant to OAR 660-23-180(3) (1996 version); (B) A conceptual site reclamation plan; (C) A traffic impact assessment for the area within one mile of the entrance to the mining area; (D) Proposals to minimize any conflicts with existing uses pre­liminarily identified by the applicant within a 1,500 foot impact area; and (E) A site plan indicating the location, hours of operation, and other pertinent information for all proposed mining and associated uses. 120.435 HEARING NOTICE. In lieu of the notice requirements in Sections 111.040 and 111.050 the following notice provisions apply to public hearings conducted on comprehensive plan amend­ment applica­tions for establish­ment of a mineral and aggregate operation: (A) Mailed Notice. Notice of the public hearing on an applica­tion for an aggregate site shall be mailed to all owners of prop­erty, any por­tion of which is within 1,500 feet of the subject proper­ty, at least 20 days prior to the date of the hearing. (B) Posted Notice. The applicant shall post a sign within the right-of-way of public roads abutting the subject prop­erty, within 100 feet of where the side lot lines of the subject property inter­sect the public road right-of-way. In addi­tion, a sign shall be posted just inside the right-of-way of the portion of a public road no closer than 1500 feet from and within one-half mile of the boundary of the subject property. Signs shall be posted at least 20 days prior to the date of the public hearing, and be visible from a pas­sing vehicle. The signs shall indi­cate, in let­ters at least four inches high, "Notice of Proposed Change in Land Use", "Miner­al/Ag­gre­gate site", "(Plan­ning Divi­sion phone num­ber)", "Marion County Planning." The applicant shall submit a certification that the notice was posted in the prescribed manner. 120.440 ALLOWABLE USES. The following uses may be allowed. The approval shall specify which of these uses is allowed. (A) Mining or quarrying operations for the extraction of rock, clay, soil, sand, or gravel. (B) The following uses when in conjunction with a mineral and aggregate resource extraction operation: (1) Processing, crushing, washing, sizing and screen­ing of mineral and aggregate resources; (2) Stockpiling of mineral and aggregate materials and earth products; (3) Offices, shops or other accessory structures used for the management and maintenance of resource extraction and processing equipment; (4) Sale of mineral and aggregate resources, asphalt, cement treated base, and concrete; (5) Asphalt batch plants, cement treated base pug plants and/or concrete batch plants; (6) Storage of equipment or machinery and maintenance fa­cilities related to mineral and aggregate resource extraction processing or transportation equipment, provided that independent commercial storage or commer­cial maintenance facilities open to the general public or not directly related to resource extraction shall not be allowed unless permitted in the underlying zone; (7) Transportation facilities and loading facilities re­lated to mineral and aggre­gate resource mining and/or processing; and (8) Other incidental mineral and aggregate resource related activities inclu­ding buildings, structures and other apparatus. 120.450 REVIEW CRITERIA. The following criteria must be met in order to grant a permit for a mineral and aggre­gate operation, in addition to any criteria in the applicable zone: (A) The proposed uses, activities and facilities are in­cluded in Section 120.440; (B) For sites that qualify as significant, the county has com­pleted the requirements of OAR 660-23-180(4)(a) through (d) (1996 version); (C) For sites that do not qualify as significant only, the fol­lowing criteria apply: (1) The proposed use, as conditioned, will not substantial­ly limit, impair, or preclude the use of surrounding proper­ties for the uses permitted in the applicable zone; (2) The proposed use, as conditioned, will not have a sig­nificant adverse effect on air or water quality; (3) Adequate public and utility facilities and services to serve the use are available or will be made available prior to establishment of the use; (D) If the site is in the EFU or SA zones and batching and blending mineral and aggregate into asphalt cement is pro­posed, this activity must be located at least two miles from a planted vineyard totaling 40 acres or more that are plant­ed as of the date the application for batching and blending is filed. 120.460 STANDARDS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION. Unless speci­fically deleted or modified as part of the post-acknowledgment plan amendment or condition­al use approval the following standards and requirements apply: (A) Dimensional Requirements. (1) Lot Area: The minimum area shall be that area necessary to meet setback requirements. (2) Setbacks for mineral and aggregate extraction shall be: (a) The extraction area must be at least 100 feet from any property line; (b) The extraction area must be at least 500 feet from a habitable building existing on adjacent property at the time the use is established; (c) When a site abuts another mineral and aggregate site, no setback for mineral and aggregate extrac­tion is required along the common boundary line, unless such setback is determined by the county to be necessary. (3) Setbacks for mineral and aggregate processing and loading shall be as follows: (a) One hundred (100) feet from any property line; and (b) Five hundred (500) feet from a habitable building existing on adjacent property at the time the pro­cessing operation is established; (4) Setbacks for offices, shops or other accessory struc­tures shall be regulated by the zone in which the proposed operation is located. (5) Storage of overburden is allowed within setbacks. There shall be no setback for existing roads, internal truck paths or other transportation facilities. Any new roads, internal transportation or other transportation facilities shall not be located closer than 50 feet from a habitable building on adjacent property existing at the time storage commences. (6) Height: The maximum height of any structure, except mineral and aggregate processing and extraction equip­ment, shall be eighty-five (85) feet. (7) Signs: One sign not exceeding thirty-two (32) square feet in area is permitted at each entrance. (B) Screening and Fencing. (1) Fencing shall be required only if the site is adjacent to an urban or rural residential zone. When fencing is required, it shall be of cyclone type, a minimum of six (6) feet high. Any site owner or operator may volun­tarily fence a site. (2) Existing deciduous and evergreen vegetation within required setback areas that screen visibility of the operation from adjacent property or public roads shall be retained unless located within a vision clearance area or determined by the county to be a public safety hazard. (C) Access. (1) Access to sites that do not qualify as significant, the following standards apply: (a) All private access roads connecting mineral and aggregate sites to public highways, roads or streets shall be paved or graveled. If graveled, the applicant shall provide a written agreement to the County to grade and treat the access road as needed during the period from June to Septem­ber, or as determined in the conditional use, to reduce dust. If the access connects with a paved public road it shall be paved for a distance of 100 feet from the existing paved road. (b) If access from a mineral and aggregate site is by graveled public high­ways, roads or streets, the applicant shall provide a written agreement to the County to annually grade and treat the first two thousand (2,000) feet of such roadway, or as de­termined in the conditional use permit, to reduce dust impacts. (c) Vehicular barriers or gates shall be required at all vehicular access points to the site. The gate shall be located no closer than 85 feet to the public right-of-way unless a lesser distance is established as part of the conditional use permit. (d) The public roads used to access the site may be specified or otherwise regulated in the condi­tional use permit, including requirements for improvements at specific locations or on-going maintenance to address safety concerns. (2) For sites that qualify as significant, access require­ments shall comply with OAR 660-23-180(4)(b)(B) (1996 version). (D) Hours of Operation. (1) Extraction, processing and transportation activity shall be allowed Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. Transportation activity shall be allowed Saturdays between the hours of 6:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m. No extraction, pro­cessing or transpor­tation acti­vity is allowed on the following holidays: January 1, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and December 25. (2) Blasting shall be restricted to the hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. No blasting shall occur on Saturdays, Sundays or the following holidays: January 1, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanks­giving Day, and December 25. (3) An owner or operator may request, and the Director may grant, an exception to provide for additional hours of operation for a mineral and ggregate extraction and processing operations when additional hours of opera­tion are needed to alleviate a public emergency. Public emergency includes: (a) Damage to public roads or structures that requires immediate repair. (b) Road construction or repair that is scheduled dur­ing nighttime hours to reduce traffic conflicts. (E) Environmental Standards. (1) Any crusher, asphalt batch plant or concrete plant, shall have a valid DEQ permit. (2) Owners or operators shall present evidence of the appropriate DEQ permits prior to commencing operations. (3) Owners or operators of mineral and aggregate operations shall comply with the Department of Environmental Quality ("DEQ") sound levels in OAR 340-35-035 for habitable buildings on nearby property. (F) Safety Standards. Access roads to all mineral and aggregate resource sites shall be gated and locked when not in operation. (G) Site Reclamation. A site reclamation plan shall be sub­mitted prior to the public hearing. It shall be amended to conform to any con­ditions of county approval and be approved by DOGAMI prior to com­mencement of operations. DOGAMI approval shall be evi­den­ced by a DOGAMI surface mining operating permit. (H) Performance Agreements. (1) The operator of a mineral and aggregate site shall provide the County with a letter and two copies of relevant documents that demonstrate the opera­tor has in full force and effect the bond or security deposit with DOGAMI to assure conformance with the state‑required reclamation plan. This information shall be provided to the County prior to commencing operations. (2) Mineral and aggregate operations shall be insured for $100,000.00 against liability and tort arising from production activities or incidental operations con­ducted or carried on by virtue of any law, ordinance or condition, and the insurance shall be kept in full force and effect during the period of such operations. Evidence of a prepaid policy of such insurance that is effective for a period of one (1) year shall be depos­ited with the County prior to commencing any mineral and aggregate operations. The owner or operator shall annually provide the County with evidence that the policy has been renewed. 120.470 NON-CONFORMING MINERAL AND AGGREGATE OPERATIONS. Any existing mineral and aggregate related use operating under a con­ditional use permit shall continue to comply with the conditions of approval, and the standards in Section 120.400 to Section 120.460 as they existed on July 1, 1992, unless the conditions or standards are removed or modified as part of obtaining a new condi­tional use permit. The standards in Section 120.460 do not apply to such uses. (A) If a surface mining operation has stopped for a period of more than one year it shall not be deemed to be interrupted or abandoned for any period after July 1, 1972, if the following conditions apply: (1) The owner or operator was issued and continuously renewed a state or local surface mining permit, or received and maintained a state or local exemption from surface mining regulation; and (2) The surface mining use was not inactive for a period of 12 consecutive years or more. “Inactive” means no aggregate materials were excavated, crushed, removed, stockpiled or sold by the owner or operator of the surface mine. (3) The applicant shall contact the Department of Geology & Mineral Industries to determine if the surface mining operation is still active and to obtain all the required permits. 120.480 SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS (A) Notwithstanding section 119.030, for signifi­cant sites where the county has determined there are no significant conflicts identified under the requirements of OAR 660-23-180(4)(c) (1996 version) that cannot be minimized, the county shall not: (1) Deny mining at the site; or (2) Impose approval requirements beyond those required to assure minimum compliance with OAR 660-23-180 (1996 version), except with regard to mining or proces­sing activities: (a) For which the application does not provide infor­mation sufficient to deter­mine clear and objective measures to resolve identified con­flicts; (b) Not requested in the application; or (c) For which a significant change to the type, loca­tion, or duration of the activity shown on the application is proposed by the operator. (B) For a significant site, the county shall render a final local decision within 180 days of accepting an application as complete.