Mining and Development

* Full-page ads have been running in The Times to rally opposition to the proposed Soledad Canyon aggregate mine near Santa Clarita. True, it is a waste of a beautiful area and will generate traffic and dust, but why should any community want to host such activities?

In Grimes Canyon near Fillmore, mountaintops are being dismantled largely for the same cause. On Oct. 12, I worked at the side of California 23 for a few hours and counted about 10 trucks per minute hauling gravel and sand out of the two facilities just up the canyon.

The difference: Part of our traffic headed for Santa Clarita needs to travel at least 20 miles farther than it would from Soledad, polluting far more and causing more dangerous traffic than a local Santa Clarita facility would.

Another ad, rallying for a sphere of influence expansion for Santa Clarita, seems like a good starting point, if such a sphere were used to control the development run amok in said sphere. However, if the proposed sphere is merely to promote the NIMBYism (keeping aggregate mining and other development-associated industry out of the local area), what good will it do?

Thirty years ago, there was no Santa Clarita. It was a beautiful desert wash. Now, it is quite possibly the most homogeneous city in the Southland. I’ve watched as hillsides were razed for fill dirt in this mother of all flood zones. I’ve seen people trying to escape costs / problems of Los Angeles, only to spend three hours a day in their cars, polluting fervently. I’ve witnessed development tracts where homes are counted by hundreds, even thousands, and aesthetics . . . what aesthetics?

Even Orange County can’t match it. Unfortunately, it may be a case of too little too late. Put a cap on your development if you are truly concerned.

ZACK GRIFFIN

Ventura County