Planning Commission – March 28, 2019 (Calico & Eco-Site)

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Malheur County Planning Commission will hold two public hearings on Thursday, March 28, 2019 beginning at 7:30 p.m.  at Four Rivers Cultural Center, 676 SW 5th Avenue, Ontario, Oregon. The purpose of the public hearings are as follows:


Applicant A: Harry Stoddard: the Consideration of: (1) Conditional Use permit, (2) Variance permit, and (3) Sage Grouse Rule Permit pursuant to Oregon Administrative Rule (“OAR”) 660-023-0115 for a 500 foot wireless telecommunication tower approximately 2.65 miles north of Burns Junction on a private, 355.87 acre parcel, in the Exclusive Range Use Zone, and generally described as tax lot 200 on Malheur County Assessor’s Map 30S38.

Malheur County Planning Department File: 2019-02-006 & 2019-02-007

Applicant: Harry Stoddard

Applicant Agents: Eco-Site, Inc.

The criteria for the proposed conditional use permit and variance permit is set forth in Malheur County Code (“MCC”), and includes the following sections:

· MCC 6-6-7 “General Criteria to Evaluate Suitability”

· MCC 6-6-8 “Specific Criteria to Evaluate Suitability”

· MCC 6-6-8-8 “Wireless Telecommunication Facilities”

· MCC 6-8-2 “Circumstances For Granting Variances”

In addition, the following policies of the Malheur County Comprehensive Plan are relevant to the Application:

· Goal 3 “Agricultural Lands,” Policies 1, 2, and 6-8.

· Goal 5 “Open Space, Scenic and Historic Areas, and Natural Resource,” “Fish and Wildlife Habitat” Policy 2, “Water Resources” Policy 4.

· Goal 11 “Public Facilities and Services,” “Fire and Police Protection” Policy 2.

The criteria for the proposed Sage Grouse Rule Permit are OAR 660-023-0115.


Applicant B: Calico Resources USA Corp: the Consideration of: (1) Conditional Use Permit and (2) Sage Grouse Rule Permit pursuant to Oregon Administrative Rule (“OAR”) 660-023-0115 for an underground gold and silver mine located approximately 22 miles south of Vale on 62 acres of private property, in the Exclusive Range Use Zone, and generally described as tax lot 101 on Malheur County Assessor’s Map 22S44E.

Malheur County Planning Department File: 2019-01-001

Applicant:  Calico Resources USA Corp.

Applicant’s agents:    Nancy J. Wolverson, Project Manager

Garrett H. Stephenson, Legal Counsel.

The criteria for the proposed conditional use permit is set forth in the Malheur County Code (“MCC”), and includes the following sections:

· MCC 6-6-7 “General Criteria to Evaluate Suitability”

· MCC 6-6-8 “Specific Criteria to Evaluate Suitability”

· MCC 6-6-8-4 “Mineral, Aggregate or Geothermal Resource Exploration, Mining and Processing”

In addition, the following policies of the Malheur County Comprehensive Plan are relevant to the Application:

· Goal 3 “Agricultural Lands,” Policies 1, 2, and 6–8.

· Goal 5 “Open Space, Scenic and Historic Areas, and Natural Resource,” “Mineral and Aggregate Resources” Policy 3, “Fish and Wildlife  Habitat” Policy 2, “Water Resources” Policies 3 and 4,

· Goal 9 “Economy,” Policies 4, 5, and 7.

· Goal 11 “Public Facilities and Services,” “Fire and Police Protection” Policy 2, “Water and Sewage” Policy 1.

· Goal 12 “Transportation,” Policy 20.

The criteria for the proposed Sage Grouse Rule Permit are OAR 660-023-0115.  The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Malheur County Court, which will make the final decision on the Sage Grouse Rule Permit Application.


Interested persons may appear and will be provided an opportunity to be heard and/or written comments may be received prior to the hearing by sending them to: Eric Evans, Planning Director 251 B. Street West, Vale, Oregon 97918 (eric.evans@malheurco.org).

Testimony, arguments and evidence must be directed toward the criteria set out above, or other substantive criteria in Malheur County’s Comprehensive Plan or land use regulations that the person believes apply to the application.

The procedure for conduct and order of testimony is set out in Malheur County Code Title 6 Chapter 11 entitled Quasi-Judicial Land Use Hearings.  A sign-up sheet for oral testimony will be provided at the hearing. Testimony shall be limited to 20 minutes for initial applicant presentation and 10 minutes for applicant final rebuttal. All others wishing to testify will be given 5 minutes.

Failure to raise an issue at the hearing, in person, or by letter, or failure to provide sufficient specificity to afford the Planning Commission an opportunity to respond to the issue precludes an appeal to the Malheur County Court or the Land Use Board of Appeals based on that issue.

This meeting may be videotaped.

A copy of the application, all documents and evidence submitted by or on behalf of the applicant and applicable criteria are available for inspection at the Malheur County Planning Department Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 (noon) and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. or on the county website www.malheurco.org/planning-department at no cost. Copies can be provided for $0.25 per page. In addition, copies of the Staff Report will be available at least seven (7) days prior to the hearing at a reasonable cost or can be viewed on the County website or in the planning department office at no cost. Please contact the planning director (541-473-5185) for additional information.

APPLICANT A:
CONDITIONAL USE APPLICATION
VARIANCE APPLICATION
SAGE GROUSE NARRATIVE FROM APPLICANT
STAFF REPORT
SAGE GROUSE ADDENDUM
ODFW Sage-Grouse Core Areas 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:
Letter from Road Supervisor
Email from ODFW
Letter from Eco-Site
Letter of Support from Snake River Economic Development Alliance
Letter of Commitment by Eco-Site
Letter from ODFW with outlined Conditions of Approval

FINAL ORDER

APPLICANT B:
APPLICATION
STAFF REPORT
ADOPTED FINAL FINDINGS OF FACT

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:
Exhibit 1: Email from Vale Rangeland Fire Protection Association
Exhibit 2: Permit G-10994
Exhibit 3: Letter from Malheur County Environmental Health Director
Exhibit 4: Letter from Malheur County Sheriff
Exhibit 5: Letter from Malheur County Roadmaster & Malheur County Surveyor
Exhibit 6: Letter from Malheur County Vector Control District
Exhibit 7: Joint letter from Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and Oregon Department of Land, Conservation, & Development
Exhibit 8: Letter of support from Rick Esplin
Exhibit 9: Calico’s letter of response to letter from ODFW & DLCD
Exhibit 10: 1000 Friends of Oregon & Oregon Natural Desert Association Joint Comments

Attachment A: 11-28-2018 TRT Meeting Summary
Attachment B: Freudenberg and Wilson, “Mining the Data”
Attachment C: 2018 Malheur County Employment and Wages by Industry
Attachment D: ELAW Guidebook for Evaluating Mining Project EIAs
Attachment E: Metal Ore Mining
Attachment F: Malheur County Demographic Housing Profile
Attachment G: ODFW Deer & Elk Winter Range
Attachment H: Pygmy Rabbit Habitat Quality
Attachment I: Great Sage Grouse COT Report
Attachment J: ODFW Core & Low Density Sage Grouse Habitat
Attachment K: Acid Mine Drainage
Attachment L: Cyanide Destruction Document
Attachment M: Cyanide Uncertainties
Attachment N: Trends in tailing dam storage
Attachment O: US Gold Failure Report
Attachment P: Grassy Mountain Area BLM Grazing Allotment
Attachment Q: Geochem Meeting Summary
Attachment R: Bowker & Chambers
Attachment S: Kuipers and Carlson
Attachment T: Gold Legacy Haunts Montana
Attachment U: Copies of Citations Referenced In Footnotes

Exhibit 11: Letter from Calico Resources in response to ONDA with Exhibits 1-16
Exhibit 12: Letter from Road Supervisor
Exhibit 13: Letter of Support from Snake River Economic Development Alliance

OTHER DOCUMENTS:

Site Layout
Well Map
PowerPoint Presentation 1
PowerPoint Presentation 2

APPROVED MINUTES