Mosler Continues Battle With County
Quarry owner Larry Mosler heads to the top of his mine up Maricopa Highway on Wednesday. Ventura County officials are scheduled to make a decision next week that could shut down the mine owner's business.
Part 1 of a multi-
part series
Report and photo
by Logan Hall
The County of Ventura is on the verge of making a decision that could shut down a local business.
The Ojai Rock Quarry has been under fire as numerous violations have been filed by the county against Larry Mosler, the mine’s owner. Mosler and his supporters claim that the County – in particular district one supervisor Steve Bennett – is unjustly targeting his business due to unrelenting pressure from the local activist organization, Stop the Trucks! Coalition. Officials in both the county’s planning division and supervisor’s office say Mosler continues to fail to comply with required government guidelines for his mine and operating procedures, and that the County will be deciding on whether or not to uphold a revocation of his mining permit.
While Mosler points the finger at the county supervisor’s office, Bennett says that he can’t, and hasn’t acted on the issue until it goes before the board of supervisors. “There’s a clear line here,” said Bennett. “I cannot sit at the hearing of the Mosler revocation permit and represent the citizens if I have instructed the planning department what to do.”
Bennett did say that county staff has “tried to work with Mosler on this and feel they have taken the right steps.”
What, at face value, could seem like a proverbial “he said she said” argument goes much deeper.
Coalition advocates say that increasing truck trips from mines like Mosler’s are detrimental to the quality of life in the Ojai Valley and cause safety concerns to those frequenting Maricopa Highway. Mosler, however, claims to have greatly improved the mining operation since he purchased the quarry in 2005 and says he has done everything he can to comply with the County. He also has five employees that live in the Valley that depend on the mine to support themselves and for some, support their families.
Daryl Williamson has lived in the Valley his entire life and has worked for Mosler for almost 16 years cutting stone and operating a variety of heavy equipment. He relies on his salary from Mosler to take care of his family. He says that he’s just an average American that loves the town he grew up in, and is thankful to be able to raise his family here. “I have three kids and two of them live with me full time,” said Williamson, a single father and Nordhoff High School Graduate. “My family has been in the Ojai Valley since 1926. My kids go to Nordhoff. I’m just trying to get by.”
Williamson says that times are tough for him like so many other blue collar Americans in the nation’s workforce. In the harsh economic world today, he says he is grateful to have employment. “There aint no jobs out there right now,” he said. “If the county shuts us down, I guess Obama can pay for me.”
Oak View resident Jerry Jones has also lived in the valley his entire life. He’s worked for Mosler as the mine’s truck scale operator for three years and also relies on his income from his work at the quarry. “I have to pay rent like everyone else,” said Jones in between weighing trucks exiting the property to ensure they fall in line with government standards. “If this all goes down, I’ll have to start job hunting. It’s pretty slow everywhere though. There’s not much out there.”
Mosler’s employees aren’t the only locals that could be affected if the mine shuts down.
Some business owners and members of the community also believe that Mosler has been treated unjustly by the County. Long time valley resident and Ojai Rotary West member Les Gardener says Mosler is an honest businessman that has given back extensively to the community. “When we built Rotary Club Park next to the ‘Y’ intersection,” said Gardner who owns the Attitude Adjustment Shop in the “Y” shopping center, “we needed stone for the park’s wall. The planning commission said there wasn’t any money to fund the park, so we went to Mosler to see if he could give us a discount.”
Gardner says that Mosler was more than willing to help. “He donated all of the stone to the club,” he said. “It wasn’t just a little either. It was about $70,000 worth of stone and he allowed members to come up and pick it from his quarry. He’s a hard working guy trying to run his business.”
Others seem to echo Gardner’s thoughts. Cody Evans, an Ojai native who owns and operates Evans Excavating, which provides grating and underground utility service, says he also belives the county is unjustly going after Mosler. “I’m dumbfounded by how much pressure that poor man is given.” said Evans. “He’s just trying to run a business here.”
Evans also states that his own business and subsequently he and his wife and eight-year-old son, depend on the material that Mosler provides. “I buy a lot of material out of there,” he said. “It’s good quality stuff and I use it for everything like French drains, landscaping and roads. That gravel is a huge asset for the valley. The beauty is that it’s right here in town. If they shut down the quarry, it would stop my business.”
Evans says that the problem lies in the availability of the material that is vital for his operation. “Because his mine is closer,” he continued, “his stuff is more affordable for the people. If he shuts down, we’ll have to go somewhere else. The nearest rock quarry is Grimes Canyon near Fillmore. That means our trucks have to travel much farther to get the necessary material. That would effect everyone big time.”
Ojai native Blake Nielsen who owns and operates Nielsen Sand and Gravel based in Ojai, says he and his customers also rely on Mosler’s operation. “We get a lot of dirt and sand out there and it all goes to Ojai,” said Nielsen who has lived in Ojai his whole life. “If they shut him down, we’ll have to go much farther away. Everything will get more expensive and it will create more pollution.”
Greg Webster former honorary mayor of Oak View and owner of Greg Rents agrees that Mosler’s operation is a valuable asset to the community and, like Gardener, says that Mosler has given back to the Valley. “His gravel is the best,” said Webster. “All of my customers love the stuff. We need Larry’s business in the Valley. He donated the ‘Welcome To Ojai’ rock at the ‘Y.’ I don’t usually get involved in politics, but this is different.”
County officials admit that the closing of the mine could have potential negative impacts on the Valley. “There’s no doubt that there will be negative impacts on the local economy,” said Bennett’s assistant Steve Offerman. “It’s unfortunate that Mosler couldn’t meet the requirements to continue operating.”
Kim Prillhart, the county’s planning director also says that there could be serious negative impacts to the community if the mine is closed, but reiterates Offerman’s assessment that Mosler is to blame. “Mr. Mosler has a responsibility to follow the laws,” said Prillhart. “He understood that this was the way the mine needed to be operated. An employer needs to do the right thing by his employees. Mister Mosler needed to take appropriate action to protect the jobs of his people. This is not a one-sided story. The County is not trying to shut a local business down.”
David Pressey, who has lived in Ojai for 56 years and is a Korean War veteran, says he doesn’t own a business and doesn’t know Mosler, but believes the issue of the rock quarry impacts everyone. “People that do honest work keep finding that the rules are getting tighter and tighter,” said Pressey. “When I see an industry shut down and that five local families will be out of work, I need to speak up. When we fought wars, we were fighting for people like them. There’s so much hypocrisy in all of this. This goes way beyond just Ojai.”
The decision on the fate of Mosler’s operation is scheduled to be made in a public hearing On Dec. 15 at 8:30 a.m. at the County Government Center, Board of Supervisors hearing room in Ventura. Mosler supporters and county officials urge citizens to attend the hearing.
Tuesday, a vote by the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors put an END to Gravel Trucking on Route 33, Maricopa Highway, from the Cuyama Valley through Ojai to Oxnard and beyond!!!
This vote marks an end to one phase of our Five Year struggle to stop proposals that could have put more than 600 gravel trucks a day on Ojai’s roads!
But the struggle is not over!
On Thursday, the Ventura County Planning Commission will vote on a motion to revoke the Permit for the Ojai Quarry. We need your continued support!
We urge you all to attend and SUPPORT the Planning Division’s move to revoke the C.U.P. for the Ojai Quarry.
The hearing is expect to last most of the morning, if not most of the day.
Please attend for at least part of the day to show your SUPPORT of the move to revoke the quarry’s Conditional Use Permit.
If you attend and plan to speak, you need to fill out a speaker card and mark it SUPPORT the revocation.
The position of the Ojai “Stop the Trucks” Coalition on the Ojai Quarry is very simple:
The Rule of Law exists and the no business – not even a quarry operator – is above it.
Quarries in California operate under Federal and State laws and a County “Conditional Use Permit.” An owner who consistently falls to comply, forfeits the right to operate.
Over the past two years the State of California Office of Mine Reclamation, the Ventura County Planning Division, and the Ventura County Planning Commission have repeatedly found fault with the operation of this quarry and are now moving to shut it down.
The only ones responsible for the possible shut down of the quarry in Ojai – and the consquences of that shut down – are the owners themselves.
And in regards rocks for the Watershed Protection District and other necessary projects?
There are legally qualified quarries in Camarillo and Moorpark that can easily supply the County’s needs.
——————————————————————————————–
Thursday, December 15, 2011, at 8:30 a.m.,
800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009,
County Government Center, Hall of Administration,
Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room
a. Uphold the Planning Division’s October 17, 2011, Order to Comply (“Order”) with the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA);including the requirement to cease all further mining activities and forfeit the Financial Assurance posted by the operator to assure reclamation of the site;
b. Revoke Conditional Use Permit 3489-2 pursuant to Section 8111-6.2 of the Ventura County Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinance;
c. Deny Mosler Rock Products’ (Larry E. Mosler, “operator”) appeal (Case No. AP11-0011) of the Planning Division’s rejection of their Financial Assurance Cost Estimate (FACE).
———————————————–
And these excerpts from Wednesday’s Ventura County Star:
Mosler quarry heads for showdown before county Planning Commission
By Tony Biasotti Special to The Star
The conflict between the county and Larry Mosler will move Thursday to the Ventura County Planning Commission, which could order Mosler to shut down his rock quarry near Ojai…
…The record the Planning Commission will consider Thursday is nearly 700 pages long, with letters from the Ojai City Council and the Ojai Stop the Trucks coalition, which want Mosler’s permit revoked.
County planners recommend Mosler be put out of business in part because he has not posted the proper “financial assurance,” essentially a bond that mine owners in California must pay if the owner fails to clean up the mine, leaving the government holding the bill….
The county wants him to pay the cost of a full cleanup, which could be nearly $3 million.
…The Ventura County Planning Division also says Mosler owes it just under $100,000 for permits and site inspections. According to this week’s report to the commission, Mosler has been behind on these payments since March 2009.
…Between 2008 and 2010, his mine was cited for 14 Planning Division violations, including mining areas outside his permit and operating outside the county’s approved hours.
Well…alrighty then___:-)
Howard Smith along with Supervisors Steve Bennett
and Kathy Long are communists who never believed
in job creation or work for the common man. Most
of them control local government for the benefit
of themselves and enrichment (big pension). Their
probably having a martini right now at the world
headquarters (Democrat Politburo) house of Bennett
in the Ventura Hillsides (whites only). Democrats
are job killers and want to put everybody on
Food Stamps. This is how they control world.
I’m still waitin’ for the Caterpillar to give an opinion…
Meanwhile – “Purple Haze amid my brain – lazy days still don’t seem the same – active body, but I don’t know why – excuse me while I kiss the sky”
Jimi Hendrix_
Peter,
Please tell us who you are? Are you still a paid “consultant” for STT?
My hysteria? Now that is funny. I have read articles, letters to the editor’ through the years. There is one common denominator, and that is hysteria.
I have read the presposterous statements, ranging from fears risen about runaway trucks (going uphill?) that posed a danger to the non-exisitent homes along 33 next Nordhoff High and the hospital, to tourism being killed because a truck might be seen.
I have read about the quality of life having been ruined. Really now? Has it really been ruined, or are you just really annoyed and exagerating?
Some time ago, the county planning department told the STT’ers that they would no longer accept complaints from regading trucks unless they had proof. There has to be a reason for that, don’t you think?
There is a comment above from someone who I would assume to be one of your supporters that compares another commentor to Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh killed 168 people and injured hundreds of other. And you don’t reject that?!?!
And as for me personally, there have been a couple of false assertions that I am in the gravel trucking business. I have stated a couple of times that I have no dog in this fight. I’m just a lowly Graphic Designer stating my opinion based on my observations.
Now, who has been hysterical regarding the truck issue?
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Mr. Mosler must be in compliance with the CUP and regulations pertaining to his industry. The county and the quarry should continue to negotiate a settlement that will bring the quarry into compliance and be able to operate. The current economic crisis should be taken into consideration, and Mosler needs to show good faith.
Unfortunately, there is blood in the water and the STT shark PAC is circling for the kill. The agenda has always been to shut the quarry down. Contrary to belief, nobody is going to take over operations. Why would they? Lessons learned from about the local business environment regarding the quarry is a huge barrier.
Brian,
If it walks like a McVeigh, talks like a McVeigh, and blogs like a McVeigh, it’s a McVeigh. I hope you have enough self-awareness to understand just how scary you’ve become – pyschologically that is… so much so that you might want to consider labelling the honey jars and beeswax products you sell at the Ojai market with a warning label: “Beware: “Contents May Explode At Any Time Without Warning.”
And Yoville, interesting comments but really, can you tell us where you have gotten this information?
Are you a Mining Engineer? A Land Use Attorney? A technical expert? Do you have a degree? College? High School? Or are you just parroting some one else’s rhetoric without any examination of those claims?
Have you read the County’s report? It’s only 700 pages?
Please tell us… Inquiring minds would love to know the source of these facts and claims.
If you are correct, then you – or any ot the other commentators above – should have no problems backing up any of your assertions.
Thank you.
This is such a stupid discussion. As a business owner, I KNOW that business is not simple. There are laws, there are banks, there are employees, and hopefully there are customers. The decision to play the game is not up to anyone but the business owner. If Mosler goes out of business for whatever reason, it is no one’s fault but his since someone else will gladly step in to provide the rock. It’s sad for the employees and their families, as it was sad to see those working for GM lose their jobs. But Like it or not, this is what capitalism is all about.
Ojai Stop The Trucks Coalition,
If the quarry is shut down the owner has to refill the quarry. That means that the ammount of trucks to do this would be a bigger impact that what come out of the quarry.That make perfect sense…
So you would rather have the 3 to 4 trucks per day leaving the quarry with 25 to 35 per day to refill it…Your logic is so comical and beyond understanding I have to wonder what substance you are partaking in…and what chemical it was sprayed with?
Just trying to help local families Peter. How is that related to Timothy McVeigh and why would you even write something like that ?
Brian…
You are sounding more and more like Timothy McVeigh before he blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City….
Should we be worried that your are building bombs behind your beehives and honey business?
Are those bees wax candles you sell at the Ojai market every Sunday really just a cover for detonators?
Really, how worried should we be, beeman?
The “Rule of Law” is very different from “Rule by Laws” .
There’s a thing called Liberty in which the Rule of Law is subservient.
The law should not require the impossible. Making the Quarry owner pay $100,000.00 to comply is unreasonable!
And why does the “Truth Coalition” hate the truth?
Smith has done more work thru the Ventura County Economic Development Association (VCEDA), SCORE, WEV, Triad, CSUCI, the Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County (EDCVC), the Ojai Chamber, and a dozen other non-profits in the past decade than all of you back biters out there will accomplish in a lifetime.
And he’s been recognized as such by Congressman Gallegly, Congresswoman Capps, the Small Business Adminstration (SBA), the Workforce Investment Board(WIB)The California State Asembly, the California State Senate, and the County Board of Supervisors.
And what have you all done other than spew hate and lies to shield what?
A quarry operation that refuses to obey basic laws and regulations?
And blames Smith instead of the owners for teh precsious situation he’s put his employees in?
Wake up and smell reality.
Why do Howard Smith and Stop the Trucks hate working men and women?
Want the facts instead of Mr. Raine’s made up hysteria and false accusations?
Over the past two years the State of California Office of Mine Reclamation (OMR), the Ventura County Planning Division, and the Ventura County Planning Commission have repeatedly found fault with the operation of a local rock quarry and are now moving to shut it down.
The current owner of the quarry took it over in 2005 and in those six years has amassed so many violations that the case file prepared by the County Planning Division for Thursday’s hearing is an astonishing 700 pages.
The position of the Ojai “Stop the Trucks” Coalition on the Ojai Quarry at next week’s Planning Commission Hearing is very simple:
The Rule of Law exists and no business – not even a quarry operator – is above it.
Quarries in California operate under Federal and State laws and a County “Conditional Use Permit.” An owner who consistently falls to comply, forfeits the right to operate.
The only ones responsible for the possible shut down of the quarry in Ojai – and the consequences of that shut down – are the owners themselves.
It is unfortunate that the owners’ actions will be the ones putting people out of work, not the County, not State and not the Coalition.
Below is the link to the County Planning Division’s Case File against the Quarry for anyone truly interested in what has been going on since 2005:
(copy it and place it in your browser.)
http://www.ventura.org/rma/planning/pdf/agendas/archive/PCH/2011/12-15-11/12-15-11_PC_packet_compressed.pdf
Or go to:
A new Planning Commission Hearing agenda has been posted on the County of Ventura Planning Division web page. Please insert the link below into your browser to view the agenda and any related staff reports.
http://www.ventura.org/rma/planning/MA/pc.html
Mr. Mosler should certainly be in compliance with the regulations associated with his business. I don’t think anybody thinks otherwise. In his defense though, with the current economic conditions the way they are, it may be possible that the monetary demands the county is placing on the quarry may be making it difficult, if not impossible, to run operate his business. If that is the case, the county and Mr. Mosler need to continue to negotiate and come to a fair agreement that is in the interest of both. However, as cash strapped as the county is, I doubt this will happen.
As far as the Stop the Trucks is concerned, you guys are a bunch of lying hypocrites. Your hands are unclean is this issue. Through the years, you have filed frivolous, as well as false, complaints with the Planning department regarding the gravel trucks and the quarry. There have been letters by your members printed in the OVN with completly false allegations. One has even falsely alleged that I must be a trucking industry for calling you guys out. The truth is that your group has targeted an industry you oppose and will do anything to shut it down. You could care less about the economic impact it has on the company, the employees, community, or the county. Your track record is clearly shows that for STT, the ends justifies the means.
Want the facts?
Over the past two years the State of California Office of Mine Reclamation (OMR), the Ventura County Planning Division, and the Ventura County Planning Commission have repeatedly found fault with the operation of a local rock quarry and are now moving to shut it down.
The current owner of the quarry took it over in 2005 and in those six years has amassed so many violations that the case file prepared by the County Planning Division for Thursday’s hearing is an astonishing 700 pages.
The position of the Ojai “Stop the Trucks” Coalition on the Ojai Quarry at next week’s Planning Commission Hearing is very simple:
The Rule of Law exists and no business – not even a quarry operator – is above it.
Quarries in California operate under Federal and State laws and a County “Conditional Use Permit.” An owner who consistently falls to comply, forfeits the right to operate.
The only ones responsible for the possible shut down of the quarry in Ojai – and the consequences of that shut down – are the owners themselves.
It is unfortunate that the owners’ actions will be the ones putting people out of work, not the County, not State and not the Coalition.
Below is the link to the County Planning Division’s Case File against the Quarry for anyone truly interested in what has been going on since 2005:
(copy it and place it in your browser.)
http://www.ventura.org/rma/planning/pdf/agendas/archive/PCH/2011/12-15-11/12-15-11_PC_packet_compressed.pdf
Or go to:
A new Planning Commission Hearing agenda has been posted on the County of Ventura Planning Division web page. Please insert the link below into your browser to view the agenda and any related staff reports.
http://www.ventura.org/rma/planning/MA/pc.html
Perhaps the ‘hookah smoking caterpillar’ can advise us…
“Go ask Alice, when she’s ten feet tall”
- Jefferson Airplane –
Grace slick
So, maybe Bennett has a big contributer to his campaign thats want to be the next operator of the quarry. I would not be surprised at all.
I talked to a resident near the site before realizing she lived there. I asked her oppinion of the quary and she related that Mr.Mosler’s opperation is hardly noticed and also she relayed the fact that if there was ever an emergency that required heavy equiptment Mosler would probally donate it’s use.
Interesting… If I needed blood for a loved one and if Bennet was the only availible donnor could I reley one him??? NOT!!…
I would like to see Mr. Mosler’s opperation remain from this resedents input
Sorry for the misspells
I am having a hard time buying that the county is to blame for Mr. Mosler refusing to follow the codes that could keep him in business and then blaming the country for putting his poor employees out of work.
That he is a nice guy is nice, but nice guys also have to follow the law. That his business is convenient is nice, but it also has to be law abiding. Les Gardiner knows that his liquor store would be shut down in a minute if he did not follow the laws, no matter how community involved he is (and he is). Mister Mosler has not met the conditions necessary to operate. These are not new conditions. he has just ignored them. Now he wants to blame Bennett or Stop the trucks…hell, Stop the Trucks was not organized against Mosler, it was organized against much larger operations up HWY 33. He is a victim, yes, but just a victim of his own doing.
I find it ironic that people are worrying about trucks destroying our roads. Yet, how many of them took issue with the state’s failed attempt to repaved the main road through town last year? They completely destroyed it with the worst half-assed repaving job I have ever seen in my life. After taking far too long than it should have to complete, the road was left looking worse and bumpier than before they started. The worst of their botched job is right in front of the coffee shop at Montgomery. Go take a look at that spot and it will make you think, this is where they liked to stop and take their breaks. The next time they try to repave Ojai’s roads, we need to make sure they use a road roller, aka steam roller.
Daryl Williamson is a good reason to keep that quarry open. He is a good father and a hard-working guy. We need jobs more than ever now. You go, Daryl!
Boost it–good point I’m eager to read the whole story.
Ray,
Just FYI. I got the print copy today and it says this is part 1 in a multi part series. Besides, all of the stories so far have been all about the county and Stop the Trucks! people. It’s about time we get to hear from the other side. Also, I see many things in this article that tell the county and Stop the Truck’s side anyway. From what I can see here, Mosler broke the law and maybe the county is being too harsh. Or maybe Mosler is too blame. I want to see the next articles before I speculate too much.
Maybe these people are speaking for themselves and on their own. If my job was on the line, I wouldn’t need anyone to tell me to speak up and I certainly wouldn’t be speaking for anyone but myself. These American citizens could lose their jobs. A government angency’s and business owner’s actions could mean the loss of jobs. Right or wrong, good or bad, the people most affected damn well deserve the right to speak up for themselves.
Mr. Mosler needs a booster club to counter Howard Smith. Howard is a bully….
Okay Logan, you have convinced us that shutting down Larry’s mine in paragraph after paragraph is going to impact several employed Ojai residents–but it leaves the reader hanging. You give very, very little press about why EXACTLY the County is aggrieved with Larry and what laws he has broken and why that is important. You are telling us a part of story with a clear view–County BAD, Larry GOOD. Good journalism includes the whole story so the reader can make up their mind.
Exactly what laws/ordinances has he violated? A list herin would be nice to review at a public level. If the mine is shut down and rock/gravel is imported from elsewhere, how will that impact the roads/traffic from Ventura and Filmore? Seems to me, no matter what the end result – some people will not be happy.
Business abhors a vacuum. If Mosler leaves, someone else will move in. The mine has been there for decades, and it will continue to be there. If Mosler has, in fact, not been playing by the rules, perhaps the next owner will do a better job of playing by the rules, and in doing so will do a better job of protecting the people who rely on his business.
As far as Mosler having people speak on his behalf, a booster club means little in the eyes of the law, no matter how respectable the club’s members might be.
This is probably one of those issues that will eventually have to be hammered out in front of a judge and jury, and when that happens all of the facts will be made public — something that hasn’t happened yet. Until such time as that happens, everything that isn’t already a verifiable part of the public record is just typical partisan opinionating, regardless of which side is doing the talking.