Rural San Benito County residents have taken a stand against one
local winemaker’s plans to increase shipments from a quarry on his
property, claiming more large trucks rumbling down their quiet
country lane will ruin the ambiance of the area and cause damage to
its roads and bridges.
Hollister – Rural San Benito County residents have taken a stand against one local winemaker’s plans to increase shipments from a quarry on his property, claiming more large trucks rumbling down their quiet country lane will ruin the ambiance of the area and cause damage to its roads and bridges.
Robert Enz, who owns the 14-acre limestone mine at the end of Limekiln Road near his Enz Vineyards winery, got approval from San Benito County Planning Commission early last month to increase production at his quarry. But that approval stirred concerns of some residents in the area who protested the decision at this week’s Supervisors’ meeting.
The county planning commission had voted to allow an increase in the amount of granite that could be mined from 20,000 tons per year to 100,000 tons per year, also approving an increase in shipping runs from five truckloads a day to up to 20 trips a day. The 20 trips a day would result in an average of 40 “trip ends,” or legs of a round-trip journey. While some nearby residents feel this would create a huge environmental and traffic impact on the area, county standards don’t require a study on either for any project that will result in anything under 50 trip ends.
But some Cienega Road residents are worried the trucks wouldn’t take the right turn off of Limekiln onto Cienega to get to Paicines as Enz has said they would. Instead, they say, the trucks might turn left and end up heading down in their direction.
Steve Bryan, who operates the Pinnacles Telephone Company in Paicines and lives on Cienega Road, told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday during a public hearing on the matter that he was worried huge trucks filled with limestone rumbling down his road would diminish the rural atmosphere of the area.
“When I’m sitting out on my patio with a martini, that really ruins the ambiance,” he told the board.
And Limekiln Road resident Jim Ryan, who filed an appeal against the planning commission’s March 2 decision to OK the increased production, said he was worried about the noise, the ambiance and the road conditions that the trucks could cause if no traffic or environmental study is conducted.
“It’s everything,” he said Wednesday. “It’s just everything.”
But Steve Grace of Graniterock reminded the Supervisors 20 trips a day was the maximum that would be allowed, and that “A quarry of this size does not, by nature, do a huge amount of trips.”
And Keith Higgins, a traffic engineer with Higgins and Associates in Gilroy, told Supervisors he saw no need for a traffic study, saying “There’s absolutely no traffic problems out there at all.”
“The service level on the road is already at a service level of A (the highest possible level),” explained Supervisor Pat Loe, who along with Supervisor Anthony Botelho cast the only two votes against requiring Enz to commission a traffic study. “And the number of trips is only going to increase by 15. I just felt that it would be a dangerous precedent for requiring projects this small to do traffic studies. I’d rather see that money go into mitigations.”
Nonetheless, the supervisors’ 3-2 vote Tuesday will require Enz to pay for the report and present it at a later meeting before a final decision on the project is made.
“I’m pleased that they’re taking another look at this. I think they made the right decision,” said Ryan.
Other than Ryan, Enz said, no one speaking in favor of the appeal at Tuesday’s public hearing actually lives on Limekiln Road and therefore no one else would be affected by the increased traffic. Most of the people opposing his plan live north of the quarry on Cienega Road, he said, while he plans to send the quarry trucks south over to Paicines by having them turn right onto Cienega off Limekiln.
“Nobody on Limekiln Road has objected that I know of other than Jim Ryan,” Enz said Wednesday.
Ryan’s lawyer, Jim Pleyte, told the supervisors Tuesday the objections of his client and others should be enough for the county to think twice about letting Enz increase production. Pleyte named road damage, noise and decreased property values as almost certain results of more frequent trips down the road by huge trucks filled with boulders.
“These people have built their dreams out there, and this is going to have a significant effect on them,” Pleyte said, adding his client wanted the board to either require a full-blown environmental and traffic report or keep Enz’ quarry at its existing production levels.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at jq*****@fr***********.com.
