Azusa : New Limits Set on Quarry

The City Council tentatively adopted a compromise agreement Monday to allow Azusa Rock Co. to continue mining Fish Canyon under a set of conditions that modify the quarry’s 32-year-old mining permit.

Under the ordinance’s conditions, Azusa Rock will face limits on when and where it digs, the routes used by gravel trucks, city oversight of blasting and other provisions that give the city more control of the operation. Azusa Rock has agreed to provide a new roadway to remove truck traffic from Encanto Parkway, and to use other methods to bring material down from the canyon, such as a proposed conveyor belt.

The ordinance was passed on a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Eugene F. Moses and Councilman Bruce Latta in opposition. Both wanted to close the quarry, which city officials estimate will generate $100,000 in annual tax revenue in coming years.

Closing the quarry had become an issue in Azusa, with city officials fighting with quarry representatives as well as with officials from neighboring Duarte who sought Azusa Rock’s closure.

Monday’s vote came despite the unanimous recommendation from the Azusa Planning Commission that the quarry permit be revoked, and despite opposition from the Committee to Save the Foothills, an Azusa environmental group that wants to close the quarry.

Committee members claimed that the final form of the ordinance, a draft of which had been rejected by Azusa Rock and the city of Duarte, fails to make the quarry responsible for the safety of the environment and the public.

The ordinance will come back for final approval in January.