Lawsuit claims county owes Oakridge butte owners for rejecting quarry
The owner of a would-be gravel quarry is suing Lane County after a years-long process seeking to mine a site near Oakridge fell apart when county commissioners denied its approval last year because of conflicts with local wildlife.
The Old Hazeldell Quarry, the company that owns a 183-acre site commonly known as TV Butte outside Oakridge, is suing Lane County for the value of that land, an expected $15 million, and damages according to the lawsuit. It alleges the county "engineered the outcome" of the process by "strategically" refusing to allow new evidence into the record.
Oakridge-area residents have opposed the gravel quarry since it first was proposed in 2015, mounting challenges to the company's plan that twice required revisions to the application. The Lane County Board of Commissioners on two occasions approved the quarry plans, but a third challenge ended in December with a 3-2 vote against the plan.
The TV Butte property is owned by Crown Properties, a trust of the family including Ed King of King Estate Winery.
Lane County spokeswoman Devon Ashbridge said the county won't comment on pending litigation.
Attorneys for the Old Hazeldell Quarry could not be reached for comment.
More:Lane County commissioners one step closer to rejecting controversial Oakridge gravel quarry
The lawsuit stems from the fact Lane County commissioners, when asked to approve the quarry for a third time after two remands by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, denied the application. The lawsuit alleges commissioners chose not to reopen the record so the company eventually could submit a plan meant to mitigate wildlife conflicts.
The wildlife conflicts at issue concern the elk and deer that live on and around TV Butte.
Just before the end of the 2021 public comment period, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist sent in a letter that said the quarry could result in wildlife displacement and a plan should be put in place to prevent that.
The quarry owner told commissioners they were working with ODFW on such a plan, but that it would take time to complete and then would have to be added to the record. Commissioners did not allow the record to remain open, and voted against the quarry application because the existing record did not resolve potential conflicts with wildlife.
"The county denied Hazeldell’s application on this sole ground, despite the fact that credible evidence in the record demonstrated to the contrary," the lawsuit reads. "The county engineered the outcome by strategically preventing Hazeldell from presenting additional evidence on this subject, including the management plan it was developing."
More:Lane County commissioners reject controversial Old Hazeldell Quarry near Oakridge
The lawsuit claims the county has recognized there are significant mining resources at the quarry site, but has taken it for public uses, specifically the deer and elk on TV Butte, by refusing to allow mining consistent with state rules.
The lawsuit claims the county took the quarry with "no rational nexus and not roughly proportional to the projected impacts of the quarry" and erred by not allowing the owners an opportunity to present a wildlife management plan.
"Without permitted mining, the quarry has only nominal value," the lawsuit reads. "Only the western portion of the quarry — facing the town of Oakridge — has timber that could possibly be harvested, and such timber harvesting is impractical, due in part to the impact it would have on the community and Oakridge’s tourism industry."
Contact reporter Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@registerguard.com. Follow on Twitter @DuvernayOR.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lawsuit claims county owes Oakridge butte owners for rejecting quarry
