FRESNO, Calif. \u2013 A controversial gravel mining project north of Fresno near the San Joaquin River received a temporary stop sign Thursday by the Fresno County Planning Commission.<\/p>\n
Multinational mining company CEMEX proposed expanding their current operation on the river<\/a> into a 600-foot deep blast mine with a 100-year timeline. However, county staff recommended a shallower, shorter project alternative.<\/p>\n By a 3-3 deadlocked vote, commission members rejected the modified proposal, which had required a majority for approval.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to impact the cities and the people who live in the area. I have a real major concern with that,\u201d Fresno Planning Commission Vice Chair Glenda Hill said from the dais. \u201cIt\u2019s probably a really good project. But it\u2019s in the wrong location.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill, along with commission member James Quist and chair Ken Abrahamian, voted against the proposal, while David Borchardt, Kyle Chaney and John Arabian voted in favor. Pablo Villagrana and Lawrence Garcia were absent. Michelle Roman left the meeting prior to the vote.<\/p>\n CEMEX is expected to appeal the Planning Commission\u2019s decision to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors at an undetermined date. Company representatives declined to comment after the meeting.<\/p>\n The meeting on Oct. 8 was the longest and most well-attended Planning Commission meeting in at least a decade, Abrahamian told KVPR following the 5-hour, 20-minute hearing.<\/p>\n With the Hall of Records meeting chambers at standing room-only capacity, interested speakers and observers queued in the lobby and adjacent rooms.<\/p>\n Seventy-seven people gave public comments following a presentation by CEMEX lawyers and executives that emphasized the need for gravel aggregate in construction projects and the future employment of roughly 95 people who work at the company\u2019s plant and quarry sites along Friant Road.<\/p>\n Permits for the company\u2019s existing operations, the last gravel mine on that stretch of the San Joaquin River, expire next year.<\/p>\n \u201cI stand before you as a representative emphasizing the importance of this project to [CEMEX employees],\u201d vice president and general manager Nathan Layfield told the commission. \u201cThey\u2019re looking at me and they\u2019re asking, \u2018Am I going to continue to have a job?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n CEMEX reps also attempted to poke holes in a recent report<\/a> by the California Geological Survey that indicated Fresno County already has roughly twice the amount of aggregate reserves in permitted mines it needs for the next 50 years.<\/p>\n While gravel mining has been part of the San Joaquin River landscape since the early 1900s, all used traditional alluvial methods, which involve digging and excavating using heavy machinery.<\/p>\n What CEMEX proposes, to blast and drill into the granite bedrock near the river, is entirely new for the area.<\/p>\n After 15 people spoke in favor of the project \u2013 all of them CEMEX employees, labor representatives and business advocates \u2013 62 Fresno and Madera county residents of a wide range of ages and ethnicities spoke against it.<\/p>\n That ratio mirrors public response to the project\u2019s recently published final Environmental Impact Report<\/a>. Of the 204 comments received by county staff, 168 were opposed.<\/p>\n