County Corrects Peanut Permit (Adobe Press)

Friday December 06, 2002

By Emily Slater

County Planning erred in issuing a Black Lake Canyon permit without attaching environmental conditions, said 4th District Supervisor Katcho Achadjian.

"The permit didn't cover everything (that needed to happen)," Achadjian said, who added officials have since added environmental requirements.

Patrick Valente recently applied for an over-the-counter permit to even out his residential parcel at 461 Peanut Way, using about 300 cubic yards of fill-in dirt. Since a sliver of the lot is considered a sensitive resource area (SRA), due to its location in the canyon, county officials should have required Valente to provide an erosion control plan and undergo an environmental review. Such stipulations were not attached.

After work began on Peanut Way, residents' complaints spurred county officials to investigate the permit's validity.
"He was doing what the permit allowed him to do," said Achadjian, explaining the fault was with the county, not the resident.

To modify the permit, then, county officials issued a correction notice Monday. By Friday, Valente must submit a sedimentation control plan.

"He is willing to comply," said Achadjian of the resident who could not be reached for comment.
"Luckily, (the work) didn't create an erosion problem," Achadjian added.

County planners and code enforcement officers determined recent rains caused no erosion into the canyon, Achadjian said. As a result, inspectors did not ban further work, but decided the addition of environmental conditions would protect the canyon.

Some in the community are calling for more accountability when county officials issue permits for sensitive resource areas.

"We want to know what the Planning Department will do when issuing permits (in an SRA)" said Ed Eby, a spokesperson for the environmental, grass-roots group Save the Mesa. "We wanted to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Achadjian admits county officials should not have overlooked the SRA permit attachments.

"Black Lake Canyon is a very sensitive area and we are doing all we can to protect that resource," he said.

Editor Emily Slater can be reached at (805) 489-4206. Δ