The Ridge at Fox Run

Gravel Pit

Gravel Pit

This article came from the 7/29/99 issue of the Gazette

Scenic view vs. open pit

Locals oppose expansion of gravel mine near Gleneagle


By Pam Zubeck / The Gazette
Story editor Bill Vogrin; headline by Barry Noreen

Rich Dudding and many others moved to north El Paso County to take advantage of the scenic vistas of the Rocky Mountains’ Front Range.

However, part of their view is a deep, six-acre gouge that mars the landscape and threatens to spread more than 12 times that size.

“It’s not a good greeting for people coming to Colorado Springs,” Dudding said. “It’s not a good thing for people who spent all they could afford and then have
that for their view.”

It’s a question that faces Springs-area lawmakers over and over: Which takes priority, a business with historic roots and property rights or the quality of life
demands of a new and growing population?

At issue is the Dellacroce gravel pit, west of Interstate 25 near Baptist Road. Its owners, Robert and Raymond Dellacroce, have been mining gravel nearly 50
years. They want to expand their gravel pit to 72 acres, extending its life for two dozen years.

They want to mine about six acres at a time over 12 phases, reclaiming the ground with native vegetation as they go.

That doesn’t placate some homeowners who opposed the expansion before the county Planning Commission. However, the commission rejected the concerns of
homeowners and the county planning staff, and instead voted 5-to-4 recently to recommend the expansion.

Now, the matter goes before the El Paso County Commission on Aug. 26.

To many residents, the scar is a quality of life issue.

“I don’t know that people have a right to have a view,” Dudding said. “But it has a negative impact on what makes it worthwhile to live up in this area.”

Nearly 2,000 other residents, represented by a consortium of homeowner associations, agree with Dudding. County planners have recommended denying the
expansion request, based on its visual impact.

The pit’s gaping hole is visible for miles amid otherwise green rolling foothills.

Gleneagle resident Mike Torreano fears if expanded, the mine could disrupt the view permanently, much like the Queen’s Canyon scar west of Colorado Springs
which was caused by years of hard-rock mining.

Aggressive revegetation efforts there have helped, but farther north, the Pikeview Quarry appears to be a tougher reclamation challenge.

“To think we might be even considering doing this to ourselves again is almost incomprehensible,” Torreano said.

The pit’s owners, who obtained the pit permit in 1994, argue the proposal does not increase mining activity, but it would lengthen its duration — from five years to
24.

“Basically it’s smaller than the five (pits) we’ve done over the last 47 years located on the same ranch,” said Raymond Dellacroce.

One pit, closed in 1991, is covered with grass, he said. The same treatment will be given to additional pits.

The Dellacroces warn against closing the pits, saying truck traffic on I-25 will increase if customers are forced to go elsewhere for gravel. Construction costs
would increase if gravel users are forced to buy from more distant pits, they say.

“Any construction company that works in northern El Paso County has used that gravel” for road base, driveways and basements, Raymond Dellacroce said.

Up to 50,000 tons of gravel per year goes north to Douglas County to supply nearly 40 percent of its road-base needs, said Denny Gibson, the county’s public
works operations manager. Douglas County has no working gravel pits, he said.

El Paso County is also a customer of the pit for materials it uses to build and maintain roads.

“We take quite a bit out of it,” said El Paso’s Department of Transportation manager, John McCarty. He said the county also gets gravel from four other pits
scattered throughout the county.

That conflict of interest doesn’t prevent the board from making a decision, said County Attorney Mike Lucas.

Commissioner Duncan Bremer, who represents the north district, is familiar with the visual issue of the pit. “I can see it very clearly from where I live,” Bremer
said, adding that Dellacroce property surrounds him on three sides.

“I’m willing to listen to what people have to say,” he said. “We have a legal obligation to keep our minds propped open.”


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