NR #2023-02: Public hearing to consider a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for (i) an amendment to the Granite Esparto Mining and Reclamation Permit (ZF #2007-071) Condition of Approval No. 24 to remove the deadline for completion of proposed bank modifications, and (ii) an amendment to Development Agreement No. 11-165 regarding the Granite Esparto Long-Term Off-Channel Mining Permit to delete Section 4.2.3 of the agreement to conform to other operators’ agreements of the Mining Program. Mining for the Granite Esparto project has not yet commenced.  An Environmental Impact Report (SCH #2009022033) was certified for the project on November 8, 2011, and no further environmental impact analysis is required. (Owner: Granite Construction Company; Planner: Elisa Sabatini, Manager of Natural Resources)

On November 8, 2011, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved the Granite Esparto Long-Term Off-Channel Mining Permit (ZF #2007-071).  This approval included a 30-year off-channel mining permit for aggregate extraction and processing on a roughly 313-acre mining area on portions of two adjacent parcels (APNs 048-220-015 and 048-220-022) subject to conditions of approval.  Granite Construction Company (“Granite”) will not commence mining activity under this permit until it has completed mining at the nearby Granite Capay facility.

In 2020, a dispute arose between the County and Granite about whether Section 4.2.3 of the Development Agreement for the project authorized the imposition of the increased agricultural offset requirements enacted by amendment of Yolo County Code of Ordinances Section 10-5.525 as a part the 2019 Cache Creek Area Plan Update to offset the Project’s conversion of agricultural land. Section 4.2.3 was unique to the Granite Esparto project. Granite and the County entered into a settlement on December 13, 2022, to resolve the dispute.

As a part of the settlement, the County agreed to initiate proceedings to amend the Development Agreement to delete Section 4.2.3 in order to conform the Development Agreement to other operators’ development agreements of the mining program (see Attachment A).  In addition, the County agreed to consider amending Condition of Approval No. 24 of the Granite Esparto permit to remove the 2021 date referenced as to completion of the bank modifications in the Streambank Stabilization Plan by deleting “no later than 2021, and/or” and “, whichever occurs first” from the condition (refer to Attachment B). The deletions would not result in a substantive change to the condition, as it would still require completion of the bank modifications in the Streambank Stabilization Plan “prior to mining within 700 feet of the adjacent high bank” and active mining has not yet commenced at the Granite Esparto site.

Natural Resources Division staff collaborated with the Office of County Counsel on this item.

Any person who is dissatisfied with the decisions of this Planning Commission may appeal to the Board of Supervisors by filing a notice of appeal with the Clerk of the Board within fifteen (15) days from the date of the action. A Planning Commission Appeal Form and appeal fee immediately payable to “County of Yolo” must be submitted at the time of filing. The Board of Supervisors may sustain, modify or overrule this decision. The Planning Commission Appeal Form can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.yolocounty.org/government/board-of-supervisors/clerk-of-the-board/planning-commission-appeal