Welk Resort Residents Blast Quarry Plan : Community Fears Approval Will End Serene Life Style

From the moment the Stackhouses discovered their tranquil North County hideaway in 1967, they knew that, one day, they would return to spend their golden years in the Lawrence Welk Resort community.

So after devoting 38 years working for a safety equipment manufacturer, Kenneth Stackhouse and his wife, Eleanor, who taught and invigorated youthful minds for 26 years in the Los Angeles school district, settled into their retirement home and learned how to play golf.

But their days of stroking putts in peace may be numbered, Eleanor says.

If a proposed plan to build a quarry is approved in nearby Sycamore Ridge--just south of Lawrence Welk Drive and west of Interstate 15--Stackhouse says the booming sound of dynamite blasting rock will undoubtedly make more than a few tee shots go awry.

‘A Devastating Blow’

“If the quarry is built it will be half a mile away from my home,” said Stackhouse, of Champagne Village, a separate entity next to the resort community. “The noise, the traffic, the dust . . . it would be a devastating blow.”

Stackhouse and other neighbors are determined to block the quarry plan proposed by H. G. Fenton Material Co., a San Diego-based mining firm. In January, when the company’s environmental impact report is tentatively scheduled to be reviewed at a county public hearing, residents plan to voice their displeasure with force.

“When we first came here, it was so peaceful and quiet,” Stackhouse said. “We fell in love with the place. When it came time for us to retire, there was no question that this was the place for us.

“We are willing to prevent it (the building of the quarry) in any way possible,” said Stackhouse, who is the chairwoman of a neighborhood coalition known as FORCE, For Orderly Rural Controlled Environment.

Established Group

Once H. G. Fenton notified the county of its plans, neighbors banded together and established FORCE to protect their serene environment. The umbrella organization includes representatives of 16 neighborhood groups and represents the interests of nearly 5,000 residents.

If approved, the Sycamore Ridge quarry is expected to produce 2 million tons of rock per year and the excavated material would be carried out in truckloads, averaging nearly 1,200 trips per day, according to Jon Fredricks, assistant general manager of the Lawrence Welk Resort and a FORCE member. He also said blasting could occur between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Quarry critics complain that such a project would expose residents to a dangerous volume of heavy traffic, dust and noise pollution. In addition, FORCE members fear that the Sycamore Ridge quarry will hurt property values and destroy wildlife habitat.

Linda Bartholomew, a spokeswoman for H. G. Fenton, said the company is “most definitely” pursuing the project and plans to address the neighborhood concerns.

Change Possible

Although Bartholomew did not say FORCE’s description of the project is incorrect, she added that project details could change.

“At this time I am not prepared to comment about the specifics of the project, but I can say those numbers could change as we gather information for submittal in January,” Bartholomew said. “For example, at first it was a 75-year project, but it has been trimmed down to 30. It’s going to be a whole new project. We plan to work with the residents and keep them fully aware of what we are proposing.”

Bartholomew said a company representative has attended FORCE meetings in the past, including the most recent one on Nov. 30.

Until the public hearing, there is little FORCE can do. For now, the coalition is shadowing H. G. Fenton’s every move.

Checking on Progress

“We’re monitoring their progress and when it looks like (there’s going to be a hearing) we intend to put a minimum of 1,000 people in those chambers,” said Ray York, a consultant who has been hired by FORCE.

“The thrust of our objection is that the Fenton quarry will impact thousands of people,” York said. “The sheer number of residents and the fact that it cannot be hidden are the main reasons we cannot allow this project.”

FORCE has also retained an environmental consultant to evaluate H. G. Fenton’s environmental report for technical flaws, York said. Currently, neighbors are expressing their concerns in a letter-writing campaign to County Supervisor John MacDonald.

And FORCE members are hinting that there’s a more suitable place for a quarry than their own back yard. Palomar Grading and Paving also has a plan on file with the county to dig a quarry in Fallbrook.

Fallbrook Favored

Fredricks, the FORCE member and Lawrence Welk’s grandson, said the county should approve the Fallbrook site instead because it would affect fewer residents.

“There are 460 mobile homes in our area that will have a direct visual line to the blasting,” Fredricks said. “There are 256 resort villas at Lawrence Welk and 135 hotel rooms, all of which will be able to see the mining.”

“On top of that nearly 200 residential homes will be built within the year,” Fredricks said. “Now compare that with the Fallbrook site where only eight homes will actually be able to see the blasting.”

Stackhouse, of Champagne Village, is also pointing in Fallbrook’s direction.

‘Better Choice’

“I know it doesn’t sound like a nice person to suggest placing the quarry in somebody else’s back yard, but I believe it’s the better choice, simply because less people will be impacted,” she said. “And, I hear (Palomar Paving) is trying to cover up the project’s less desirable aspects.”

Jim Russell, chairman of the Fallbrook Community Planning Group, however, wasn’t persuaded by FORCE’s arguments.

“Look, we made it clear that we don’t want any heavy, dirty, obnoxious industry in our community,” said Russell, who argued that more than eight homes would be affected.

The planning group, which forwards its recommendations to the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use, rejected Palomar Paving’s proposal during the summer. Fallbrook residents complained that Rosemary Mountain, off I-15, would be destroyed by the project.

Offered Suggestions

However, the planning group offered ways for Hal Jensen, co-owner of Palomar Paving, to improve the project so that it might be approved, Russell said.

“If they can prove that they can be a good neighbor without causing degradation to our life style, we might . . . I repeat, we might, accept them in our community,” Russell said.

Jensen said he’s done everything possible to be a good neighbor. According to Jensen, who said he is ready to present his revised plans, Palomar Paving will conduct mine in such a way that the view of Rosemary Mountain from I-15 will be preserved.

In addition, Jensen said, the company will expand roads to ease traffic burdens, contribute $1.2 million (at current dollar value) over 20 years to the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District to help fund its DeLuz Ecology Center, and leave a reservoir--a mining by-product--for the community.

Organization’s Hope

FORCE members are hoping that approval of the Fallbrook project would provide enough rock to satisfy the county’s construction needs, and therefore, eliminate the need to establish the Sycamore Ridge quarry.

But, Nancy Allen, an executive assistant to MacDonald, said such reasoning is full of holes.

“The Board of Supervisors will decide this issue solely on the basis of whether or not building a quarry is an appropriate land use for each site,” Allen said. “If it’s an appropriate land use at both sites, we’ll probably build two quarries. If it’s not appropriate, we won’t build any.

“Just because one is approved, doesn’t mean the other project will go away,” Allen said.