FILLMORE : Mining Firm Wins Land Reclassification

A state board granted Southern Pacific Milling Co. a minor victory Friday in its effort to mine 500 acres west of Fillmore when it designated the land a significant mining resource area.

The designation by the State Board of Mines and Geology does not guarantee SP Milling approval from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, but it theoretically makes the project more difficult to reject, opponents to the project say.

The move to reclassify what is now an orange orchard in a rural farm area along Boulder Creek came over the objections of Fillmore-area residents and farmers, who contend that a sand and gravel mining operation is incompatible with farming.

“This was a complete set-up,” Fillmore City Councilman Roger Campbell said.

“It was a perfect example of Sacramento policies and a nonresponsive government.”

Campbell said the state board disregarded its own guidelines that say there must be an “imminent threat” to the resource from another incompatible land-use.

“They did not prove imminent threat,” he said.

Campbell said he would ask the city of Fillmore to enter a class-action lawsuit against SP Milling.

But SP Milling officials said Friday they do not think the new designation would improve their chances of winning approval for the project.

“The Board of Supervisors won’t allow this project to go forward until they are sure that all concerns have been taken care of,” said William Berger, vice president and general manager at SP.