Rincon Mine hearing postponed again
Procedural mistake by county staff causes another delay
Rincon partners will have to wait another month to find out if the company will need an exception to the Dotsero Community Plan in its effort to create a gravel mine near the Colorado River in Western Eagle County.
While Rincon partners does not have an active application with Eagle County, the group has, according to its website, brought another gravel mine project before the county.
The project’s history begins in 2019 when Eagle County local Mike Young of Rincon partners acquired the Coyote Pit property and associated conservation land near the Colorado River and the community of Dotsero in Western Eagle County. Young is a luxury home builder who also constructed a man-made waterskiing lake in Dotsero.
The Coyote Pit property, prior to Young’s involvement, had previously seen a controversial plan turned down in Gypsum, where Grand Junction asphalt paving firm Elam Construction asked Gypsum to annex the land and issue a permit to allow the company to mine the area.
Young and Rincon partners acquired the land following the death of that plan and began working with neighbors and stakeholders to develop a new plan.
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In early 2021, a plan for a mine with no asphalt plant and other modifications was heard by the Eagle County planning commission, which voted 4-2 to deny an exception to the Dotsero Area Community Plan requested by Rincon partners.
Rincon partners paused the project at that time and, in bringing another plan to Eagle County, has again been told they will need an exception to the Dotsero Community Plan, which does not call out extraction as an allowable use.
This time, Rincon partners is appealing the staff decision requiring them to seek the Dotsero Community Plan exception.
In seeking an answer to this legal question, an appeal hearing was originally scheduled for April 19, but county staff did not send out the required notice to neighbors in the area in time for that hearing.
The hearing was rescheduled to Wednesday, but at Wednesday’s meeting, county staff pointed out that the staff report on the issue was not properly published prior to the meeting, so the hearing was tabled once again.
Commissioners, on Wednesday, apologized to Rincon partners for the delay.
A new hearing has been scheduled for June 15.