MADERA COUNTY — The Madera County Board of Supervisors are holding a special meeting on Monday, Sept. 12, at 9 a.m., with the only item on the agenda the fate of the proposed Austin Quarry.
The Planning Commission voted 3-2 on July 19, to approve the conditional use permit for the Austin Quarry, a 671-acre site to be developed by Vulcan Materials for a hard-rock quarry and aggregate processing facility at the southwest corner of Highways 41 and 145.
Opponents of the quarry filed an appeal after the Commission’s vote, and after several public meetings, the issue is coming back before the Board for a final vote.
Those in opposition to the project have been citing their concerns over impacts on already low water levels, noise and air pollution, lowered property values and traffic problems caused by hundreds of large trucks daily on local roadways. Nearly two dozen opponents expressed those concerns to the Commission during the July 19 meeting, which lasted nearly six hours.
Those in favor of the project say that it will generate approximately 125 new jobs in Madera County when the quarry is in full production, and would mean annual payments of approximately $250,000 in additional revenue, improvements along Highway 145 at the project entrance, and the purchase of two Type 6 Fire Engines for the Madera County Fire Department by Vulcan Materials.
Those unable to attend can watch the meeting live streaming here.
For details of the project from Vulcan Materials, please visit http://www.austinquarry.com/index.html
For details on the opposition to the project from the Madera Oversight Coalition, please visit http://www.noaustinquarry.org/
