The Fremont County Planning Commission heard another four hours of testimony Tuesday night before voting to reject a citizens-initiated amendment to the county's Master Plan. A public hearing that ran for three hours on June 2nd had been continued for another month to allow more public input and additional time for Planning Commission members to review materials.
A detailed presentation by the Tallahassee Area Community (TAC) supporting an amendment to the Master Plan dominated most of the comment at the June 2nd hearing. The amendment would have banned uranium mining activity within a two mile buffer zone around residences in the county's mountain district. However at Tuesday's hearing, most of the people testified in opposition to the amendment.
A number of Holcim Company employees said the amendment would kill mining jobs and the local economy, and possibly force the cement company out of the county with their business. Jim Javernick told the Planning Commission that the amendment was a job killer.
Other Tallahassee neighbors in the South T-Bar subdivision also spoke against the amendment. Terry Hartman said he still bought a lot after learning the uranium was there. Hartman said his mineral rights are for sale and suggested his neighbors could certainly buy those rights and leave them in the ground.
Several Tallahassee residents said it was time that Fremont County shifted the focus from jobs and money to emphasizing health, safety, and the environment. TAC Legislative Committee Chair Lee Alter said even if the Planning Commission was inclined to bypass the amendment and start reworking the Master Plan on a broader scale, TAC would expect the county to impose a moratorium on issuance of any conditional use permits for further exploration or mining until the Master Plan is amended.
Planning Commission member Dean Sandoval said after hearing the seven hours of testimony he's convinced the Master Plan is in need of change but questioned whether this particular amendment was the way to go about it. Sandoval said in his ten years on the Planning Commission he has not seen this amount of public emotional involvement in connection with mining as has taken place the past two years in front of the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners.
Planning Commission members hesitated over the thought of tabling the issue and the public hearing for another month. Chairman Tom Piltingsrud said that continuing the public hearing for another month would only add another month's delay in getting down to the detailed work of amending the Master Plan. On that suggestion, member Keith McNew moved to reject the amendment which was approved on a 6 to 1 commission vote.
A detailed presentation by the Tallahassee Area Community (TAC) supporting an amendment to the Master Plan dominated most of the comment at the June 2nd hearing. The amendment would have banned uranium mining activity within a two mile buffer zone around residences in the county's mountain district. However at Tuesday's hearing, most of the people testified in opposition to the amendment.
A number of Holcim Company employees said the amendment would kill mining jobs and the local economy, and possibly force the cement company out of the county with their business. Jim Javernick told the Planning Commission that the amendment was a job killer.
Other Tallahassee neighbors in the South T-Bar subdivision also spoke against the amendment. Terry Hartman said he still bought a lot after learning the uranium was there. Hartman said his mineral rights are for sale and suggested his neighbors could certainly buy those rights and leave them in the ground.
Several Tallahassee residents said it was time that Fremont County shifted the focus from jobs and money to emphasizing health, safety, and the environment. TAC Legislative Committee Chair Lee Alter said even if the Planning Commission was inclined to bypass the amendment and start reworking the Master Plan on a broader scale, TAC would expect the county to impose a moratorium on issuance of any conditional use permits for further exploration or mining until the Master Plan is amended.
Planning Commission member Dean Sandoval said after hearing the seven hours of testimony he's convinced the Master Plan is in need of change but questioned whether this particular amendment was the way to go about it. Sandoval said in his ten years on the Planning Commission he has not seen this amount of public emotional involvement in connection with mining as has taken place the past two years in front of the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners.
Planning Commission members hesitated over the thought of tabling the issue and the public hearing for another month. Chairman Tom Piltingsrud said that continuing the public hearing for another month would only add another month's delay in getting down to the detailed work of amending the Master Plan. On that suggestion, member Keith McNew moved to reject the amendment which was approved on a 6 to 1 commission vote.