CEMEX FIRES BACK AT CITY LAND ANNEXATION DRAWS OPPOSITION.

Byline: Judy O'Rourke Special to the Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - Mexico-based Cemex is opposing the city's plan to change the zoning and annex the Soledad Canyon land, where the company intends to mine 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel, calling the measures another attempt to foil the company's bid to mine the area.

In letters written to the city, the company's lawyers accuse Santa Clarita of trying to circumvent environmental laws by annexing the land it owns without comprehensive environmental studies. The Bureau of Land Management holds mining rights and has leased those rights to Cemex.

``Santa Clarita is required to prepare an environmental impact report under (state environmental laws) for any project that may result in a significant effect on the environment,'' said a Sept. 29 letter written by attorney Kerry Shapiro, of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP, on behalf of Cemex.

The letter is included in information city planners will present tonight to city planning commissioners. The commission is scheduled to vote on the proposed zoning amendments and annexation, and send the issue to the City Council for an Oct. 25 hearing. If the council approves the measure, an application could be made to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees municipal boundary changes in Los Angeles County.

``We would be making an application to LAFCO as soon as the City Council has authorized us to do so,'' Senior Planner Kai Luoma said. At issue is the city's plan to annex 1,885 acres east of city boundaries in Canyon Country, including about 1,000 acres it owns. The BLM has agreed to a deal that would allow Cemex to mine for 20 years, a plan the city is fighting.

The city found annexation and the prezoning required for the site would have no significant environmental impacts. In lieu of preparing a comprehensive environmental report, the city has conducted an initial study, a negative declaration, which Shapiro asserts is insufficient.

The city's plan to prezone the acreage would allow for development including suburban residential, very low-density residential and open space or parkland. A mineral-oil conservation area would overlap a portion of the open space area.

Luoma said the mineral zoning designation would ensure the resources could be extracted now with the proper entitlement and would be protected for future extraction.

``The annexation will give the city no authority over the operation of a lawfully approved aggregate mine on the site,'' Luoma said.

He said the city would like to bring the city-owned acreage under its jurisdiction to take advantage of the open space.

Judy O'Rourke, [phone]

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com