COMPANY, CITY FIGHT OVER MINES `LAND BRIDGE' USE AT STAKE.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- City officials are scrutinizing mining operations in Soledad Canyon to see if something besides mining might be more beneficial for the property owners and the community.

The city's top community development official said he has had discussions with property owners, but declined to be more specific about what the preferred uses would be.

``(We're) actively involved in reviewing the properties located along the Santa Clara River -- the Ben Curtis property and the Vulcan property -- all the properties along the river where the gorge begins,'' said Paul Brotzman, the city's director of community development.

The mines are in Los Angeles County officials' jurisdiction and inside the Angeles National Forest, outside city limits.

Santa Clarita officials are working with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and others to close a gap in two sections of the Angeles National Forest near Agua Dulce, to link a greenbelt and wildlife corridor around the city.

Brotzman said 1,000 city-owned acres could become part of the linkage, with one catch.

Cemex owns mining rights in 464 of those acres, and plans a 56.1-million-ton sand and gravel mining operation there over 20 years.

The city's plans to annex 1,885 acres is on hold pending the approval of a connecting annexation.

Brotzman said Cemex is the only opponent of the annexation. The company filed a lawsuit in December challenging an environmental review in the city's annexation proposal.

It could be known in a month whether the city will successfully annex the ``land bridge,'' the 600-plus-home Stonecrest neighborhood leading to its property over the mine, or if Stonecrest residents will vote on annexation.

Brotzman said the greenbelt would become the logical end of the city, deflecting rumors city officials hope to annex land well north, up to Palmdale.

The city has waged a multimillion-dollar assault on Cemex's planned mine, but it is only one of a handful of mines proposed or operating in the canyon.

City officials contend the Cemex operation would be 20 times more intensive than prior operations on the site.

``We view it as a domino effect,'' said Gail Ortiz, a spokeswoman for the city. ``There are a lot of people watching to see what happens with the Cemex mine; what happens will have a lot of bearing on future projects in the area.

Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon introduced a bill in Congress May 25 designed to cancel Cemex's lease and limiting any future mining at the site to historic levels of 300,000 tons a year. City officials acknowledge that gaining jurisdiction over the city-owned land above the mine will not give them control over mining operations, but they continue to pursue annexation.

Brotzman said the city has not fought against mining at historic levels.

Other mines in the area are owned by Triangle Rock Productions, a subsidiary of the giant Vulcan Materials Company; the Soledad Quarry LLC; C.A. Rasmussen Inc. and Ben Curtis.

The Santa Clara River bisects deposits of hard rock, and sand and small stone.

Cemex sits on the side with the sand; Triangle, Rasmussen and Curtis draw river sand from the riverbed, which is constantly replenished.

Triangle, a few miles south of the Cemex property, has been mining in Angeles Forest land for 40 years. The company averages about 800,000 tons of material a year from its hard-rock quarry, said Steven Bear, resource officer for the Angeles National Forest. Its contract extends five more years.

Soledad Quarry, down the road from the proposed Cemex site, has proposed mining 3 million tons of a claylike mineral over 20 years on Angeles Forest land. The city has opposed its plan, saying it is six times more than acceptable historic levels.

By contrast, Cemex proposes mining 2 million tons a year for 10 years, increasing to 4 million to 5 million tons a year over the next decade.

Curtis, who operated a smaller mine at the Cemex site for two decades, said in May he was considering annexing two miles of the riverbed property that borders the city limit.

About a year ago, the city took a stand on the Soledad Mine, linking it with Cemex's proposal, though the two are not connected by ownership, ``because of the cumulative effect of mining in the area,'' said Michael Murphy, the city's intergovernment relations officer, earlier.

Cemex has said it hopes to begin operating in the canyon in 2008. Henry Fritzsche, Soledad Quarry's general manager, said he hopes to start operating in September, but U.S. Forest Service approval could take a year from when his application is finalized.

Ortiz said the city is battling the operations because ``we do not want to become the valley of the mines.''

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com

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