Decision on Gravel Mining Delayed

County planning officials on Thursday delayed a decision on whether to allow gravel mining in the greenbelt between Fillmore and Santa Paula for three weeks, following an all-day public hearing.

The overwhelming volume of information presented during the drawn-out, six-hour meeting prompted the Planning Commission to postpone a vote until its next meeting on Aug. 15. If, as expected, the decision is appealed it would go on to the Board of Supervisors.

Speakers delivered dry and often technical detail about the latest industrialization plan facing the rural Santa Clara Valley. Just two months ago, the county approved a more than tenfold expansion of the nearby Toland Road Landfill despite vehement protests by neighbors. So Thursday’s session left many of the nearly 100 people in attendance weary and frustrated.

“You get to your limit on this stuff,” longtime opponent Anita Nelson said after the meeting. She blamed battle fatigue and rising cynicism as the reasons far fewer valley residents showed up to protest the proposed mine as did the landfill. “It’s painful.”

Frustration surfaced among project supporters, as well.

“We always hear: ‘Go someplace else,’ ” said Bill Berger, vice president of operations for Southern Pacific Milling Co.

The company is seeking to strip-mine gravel from a 120-acre site 1 1/2 miles west of Fillmore for 29 years. The property, which is surrounded by citrus groves, would be mined in small phases to minimize the impact and then transformed back to an orchard.

The project pits jobs against rural lifestyles, industry verses agriculture.

Residents question whether a gravel mine--even a relatively small operation that the company insists will not cause irreversible harm to the environment, farms or quality of life--can coexist with farming operations in a largely unspoiled valley. Some ask whether the mine will lead to the sort of rampant industrialization that would eliminate Santa Clara Valley citrus much like the urbanization of Orange County decades ago led to a near extinction of its orange groves.

“If I thought any harm would come to the valley from this project I would not be here,” said Fillmore native Vic Westerberg, one of 25 SP Milling employees who attended the meeting. He said he would be one of about 20 people laid off if the gravel mine is not approved.

His view contrasted sharply with that of grower Ross Wileman, who came close to tears as he challenged the commission to decide once and for all whether similar projects are likely in the years to come.

“Don’t make us come back and keep begging,” he said. “We’re surrounded by projects. . . . We should rezone this area and call it a dump zone for the county.”

SP Milling’s experts and valley growers differed on almost every issue discussed. The significance of the increased truck traffic on California 126. The effect of dust on the beneficial insects that are used throughout much of the valley instead of pesticide to control destructive bugs. What impact permanently lowering the ground level at the mine site by as much as 92 feet will have on the area’s climatic conditions.

“There are a number of unanswered questions, and in our opinion the potential benefits of the project are outweighed by the potential harm that could come,” said Stan Zervas, manager of the Fillmore Insectary, a natural pest-control operation.

“This valley is unique. This project is unique,” he said. “One of the struggles we’re having is when you have a unique project in a unique environment you can’t always predict the outcome.”