HomeMy WebLinkAboutLOD201200003 Other 2019-01-16 (6)Project Development Limited LC
May 3, 2012
Amelia McCulley, Zoning Administrator
County of Albemarle
Department of Community Development
401 McIntire Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
RE: Alberene Soapstone Company — Request for Letter of Determination
Dear Ms. McCulley:
This is to request a current Letter of Determination per the attached application. Since a LOD
was done in 1986, the documentation to support the "use" being continuous is provided
herein for period 1987 to present.
BACKGROUND:
The Alberene Quarries a source for soapstone have been in use since the late 1870's and
most certainly prior to 1980 which was when the Albemarle County ordinance was adopted.
Documentation was provided in 1986 and a LOD was issued by Andrew Evans, Deputy
Zoning Administrator at that time. The documentation provided for that determination include
sales income and some stone tonnage reports.
The quarry operation including quarry sites and plant operations are under the jurisdiction of
and permitted by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (VDMME). There
are strict requirements and regular inspections of the entire operation. As required by
VDMME, the quantity of stone is reported annually in tonnage. The tonnage reports,
inspection reports, and permits are kept on file at VDMME (date stamped at the time
submitted). Documents from the VDMME files reports are provided as documentation of the
quarry activities that have been continuous over the past years although operated by various
companies/names. VDMME has remained the sole oversight agency of the mining
operations although the mineral rights ownership interests are well documented in the
Albemarle County real estate records. It seems that Albemarle County's involvement has
been limited to the LOD in 1986 and various building/electrical permits from time to time.
Description of the operation
The stone harvesting includes mining/extraction by blasting, cutting and removal of stone
from the underground ridge of soapstone and removal of stone blocks previously extracted
that are stored on -site. The majority of the quarry sites are located in Albemarle County with
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Project Development Limited LC
some in Nelson and Amherst. (All the documentation attached pertains to Albemarle County
locations.) The Alberene Soapstone Co. processing/finishing and production plant is located
in Nelson County/South portion of Schuyler. In addition to the plant, the overall operation
includes various types of heavy equipment. This equipment is necessary to drill, cut, saw,
harvest the stone, load/unload stone, and generally handle the various sizes of stone in the
process. Since mobilization of the equipment is a substantial effort and expense, the
operation although continuous in nature is purposely planned to minimize the number of
times that equipment is mobilized back and forth between quarry locations. Therefore, it
may be that plant personnel review inventory (look for specific size/color stone) as required,
then a truck and front-end loader is used to bring a stone from a specific quarry location.
This is done typically one stone at a time (could be 10' x 5' x 5' in size) from the stored
inventory based upon a specific customer order for that size and color stone. At the same
time, the plant is processing stone and a few stones each month may be shipped out of state
for cutting. The several pieces of equipment used for the extraction activity may be at one
or two quarry locations for extended periods of time then moved to the next. Once an
inventory has accumulated or demand for a certain stone changes, the equipment is moved
to another quarry location and they start all over again. There is significant inventory/piles of
soapstone on hand for processing at this time because the new stone cutting saws can cut
stones deemed unsuitable in past years for the older saws.
This explanation is provided to better understand this industry because the circumstances
are very unlike any other "use" or activity even that of a typical bulk gravel quarry. As a
mineral quarry, it is a long term operation with minerals that have slight variations coming
from unique locations. Finding the right stone from existing inventory by going from location
to location, goes on from week to week although it is typical that equipment is used to cut
from only one quarry hole at a time over a period of a year. Activities also include the
preparation as required by VDMME to ready an area for quarry operations which may include
electric service to stone saws, installing fence, de -silting basins, setting pumps and all other
details that VDMME inspects. The definition of "active" as it pertains to zoning needs to be
considered for this particular quarry "use" in view of the nature of the mineral industry.
PREVIOUS LETTER OF DETERMINATION
Rebecca found and provided a copy of the previous LOD issued in 1986. This included the
LOD which listed the tax map parcels "included" and mentioned that some were excluded
(not a lot of documentation on those) and there were tax maps attached that show the
parcels outlined in red on the tax maps (included) and green (excluded). TM parcels from
that LOD:
Tax Map Parcels 111 — 8W 118 acres (111-8 surrounded 111 — 8 although not listed in the letter)
126 — 21 B 130 acres
126 — 31 C* 105 acres (shown on TM 126 — 31 A)
126 — 31 D* 350 acres (shown on TM 126 — 31 A)
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Project Development Limited LC
It appears that 126 - 31A was the tax map parcel assigned to the "surface" property and 31C
& 31 D are the parcels numbers assigned to the mineral rights ownership interest. Since 1986,
126 - 31A has been subdivided but 31C and 31D are still the same.
The current Tax Map Parcel information is now"
111-08W 118 acres (111 — 08W is 106.2 acres + 111-08 is 1 acre = 107.2 acre)
126 — 21 B 130 acres
126 — 31C 105 acres (Same area on the TM — pertains to mineral rights)
126 - 31 D 350 acres (Same area on the TM — pertains to mineral rights)
Since 126 — 31A has been subdivided over the years, there are new parcel numbers but the
ownership interest in the mineral rights — has remained the same with only a few being
released. The tax map numbers for 31C and 31 D are still shown on TM 126 — 31A which is a
much smaller parcel as the residue or common area for The Quarries subdivision. A
complete list of tax map parcels is attached along with copies of the old tax maps and
matching new tax maps with the same parcel areas outlined in red and green.
At the "pre -application meeting staff indicated that documentation from VDMME permits
could be used to show the continuous nature of the use. Since these documents are
stamped at the time submitted to VDMME, it proves the reports were received and on file
with that agency. Hopefully, this will be deemed adequate and better even than dollar
amounts of product sales. There are a few years of tonnage reports missing but the "activity"
during those periods in the Albemarle properties was permitted and under the inspection of
VDMME and the preparation work documented on inspection reports at the Albemarle
locations was on -going during those periods. Although the ordinance requirement allows for
up to 2 years "gap", the goal was to provide documentation for each year. It is apparent
from the high tonnage volumes that stone pulled from Albemarle County may very well have
been included with the Nelson tonnage reports as noted in at least one inspection report.
There are also reports that note "Old Dominion #4" which is located in Albemarle but the
person filled in "Nelson" as the County. With the plant in Nelson, there may have been
inspectors over the years that didn't realize where the county line is located (most people
don't know exactly). Anyway, whether pulling from stockpiled inventory, extracting stone
previous cut from a quarry hole, or doing prep work to move back into a quarry location — all
of this is in fact part of the activity or "use" that has been continuous.
This is to request that the same properties be included in the new letter of determination
which are outlined in red on the current tax maps. It is understood that to allow any of the
excluded parcels which are outlined in green (or not mentioned parcels) to be used for the
quarry operation that an NR Overlay needs to be approved as indicated in the 1986 LOD.
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Since this is a lot of information, I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss any details
that need additional clarification for favorable consideration. This request is very important to
the success of Alberene Soapstone Company and all parties ie mineral rights owners, those
with mineral rights leases, production employees that are involved in the operation. Please
advise if any additional information is needed.
Sincerely,
Jo Higgins
Project Development Limited LC
ATTACHMENTS:
A. APPLICATION — Modified to indicate Letter of Determination (Check for $100 fee)
B. Alberene Soapstone Company — Parcel List including a physical survey to show the
quarry line on several parcels AND old tax maps & new tax maps showing parcels
outlined in red and green
C. DOCUMENTATION FOR ACTIVITY — PERIOD 1987 THRU 2011
D. VDMME Permit for the current year & VDMME permits list for period 1986 to 2005
E. STORY OF ALBERENE STONE — OPENED LATE 1870'S AND EARLY 1880'S
F. SOAPSTONE DESCRIPTION -SOAPSTONE 101
G. PHOTOS — QUARRIES, PLANT, AND PRODUCTS
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