Firm’s Proposal Fuels Traffic, Noise Concerns : Moorpark: Mining company seeks county’s OK to expand operation, which would mean more trucks passing through city.

A company mining sand and gravel four miles north of Moorpark is applying for a county permit to nearly double the size of its operation, increasing truck traffic and noise in the city.

Moorpark officials are warning that the expansion by Transit Mixed Concrete Co. could lead to more than two large trucks through the city every minute of a 12-hour workday.

Company officials said activity at the site would be no greater than in the past, but a recently released environmental analysis indicates otherwise.

The mining operation, which was run by Blue Star Ready Mix until it sold out in 1993, delivers from 1.2 million tons to 1.8 million tons of gravel and sand each year.

Transit Mixed is asking to increase its operation to 3.4 million tons a year for 50 years.

“The scope of the project will remain where it has always been,” said Chuck May, vice president and general manager of Transit Mixed. “We don’t want people to assume that ‘My God, it’s going to mushroom into something huge.’ We are going to operate like we always have.”

May would not comment on the numbers in the environmental report. But he said the proposal is no different from one first submitted in 1991 by Blue Star.

Complaints from nearby homeowners about noise, dust and traffic have plagued the operation since 1986. Mining began there in 1948.

Blue Star mined the site for almost seven years without a permit, but with county acquiescence. Transit Mixed is also operating without a permit, but it is now seeking one from the county.

A Planning Commission hearing is set Oct. 26, and the issue would then go to the Board of Supervisors.

If the expansion is approved, the mine would eventually employ about 195 people, far more than now, May said.

City officials are still reviewing Transit Mixed’s proposal and have not yet submitted their comments to the Planning Commission. But truck traffic remains their biggest concern.

Last week, a truck hauling three tons of sand from the site crashed in front of Moorpark’s City Hall, tipping over and dumping its load on a lawn adjacent to the building.

Chief City Planner Jim Aguilera was reviewing the report’s traffic analysis when the crash occurred. He said it was not the first time that trucks from the mine had crashed in town.

“We want to impress upon the county how much this is a real-life issue for us,” Aguilera said. “It’s not just a document.”

As part of the environmental report, the company listed options to routing traffic through town on California 23. One is a proposed bypass through Happy Camp Regional Park and a planned community by Messenger Investment Corp. on the east side of town. The bypass road eventually connect with the Simi Valley Freeway east of Moorpark College.

Gary Austin, Messenger vice president, said he doubted that such a road would be built.

“I don’t get the feeling that they are recommending that alternative,” he said. “But we will emphasize that we would not like to see them build an alternative route through our property.”

In addition to traffic, the proposed expansion is expected to destroy about 147 acres of native grasslands. The mining operation would also be visible from hiking trails in Happy Camp park, and the company predicts that about 60 times a year the site will be lighted for a round-the-clock shift.

Copies of the environmental report are at the county Planning Department at the Government Center in Ventura until Oct. 20.