Oregon's error in the 1940s hanging up proposed rock quarry south of Silverton

Nearly a year after approving the sale of mineral and geothermal rights to the owner of a property south of Silverton who wants to open a rock quarry, the Oregon State Land Board is considering re-examining its sale after it finally opened the matter to public comment.

The property borders Silver Creek and is about 1,500 feet from Silverton Reservoir, a major source of drinking water for Silverton.

During the delayed public comment period, many in and around Silverton raised concerns about the potential for contamination of Silver Creek an active mining operation could have.

But the land use is not under the purview of the State Land Board and is instead a matter for Marion County, which approved the use for the site in 2015.

Silverton Rock Farm LLC purchased the site in 2013 believing it was also purchasing the sub-surface mineral rights to the property.

But those rights were owned by the state of Oregon after an administrative error in the 1940s.

In its attempt to correct that error, the Department of State Lands didn’t follow the prescribed procedures to allow the public to comment on the sale.

“I just have a feeling that things weren’t handled properly and they’re scrambling around,” said Denille Matthews, who lives in Marion County and is opposed to the sale.

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Site once was a quarry

The site previously was a rock quarry known as the Hickman Pit, but quarry activities were discontinued in 1996.

According to records from the Marion County Tax Assessor’s office, Silverton Rock Farm purchased the property south of Silverton in 2013 for $395,000.

Marion County records show Silverton Rock Farm is owned by Richard Beck of Salem. Beck, who did not return calls for comment, owns numerous rental properties with his wife, Sibylle Beck, around Salem.

In a review by the Department of State Lands, the state found the ownership of the mineral rights on the land title were improperly dropped from it in the 1940s.

The property was purchased along with an adjacent property to develop a rock quarry under the belief Silverton Rock Farm purchased the mineral rights as well, according to state documents.

In 2015, the Department of State Lands realized the mineral rights on the site were still owned by the state.

“For this piece of property, the subsurface rights have been separated from the surface rights,” said Ali Ryan Hansen, communications manager for the Department of State Lands.

Silverton Rock Farm sued the title company involved in the purchased and later settled the case, according to state documents. The rock farm then applied to purchase the mineral rights from the Department of State Lands.

Plan approved by Marion County

Silverton Rock Farm proposed reopening the quarry and expanding it onto an adjoining property.

Marion County planning director Joe Fennimore said the county followed its regular process and alerted about 80 property owners adjacent to the site and other affected agencies nearby such as the Silverton Fire Department about the planning process.

“I don’t remember anyone calling about it at the time,” Fennimore said. 

Warren Jackson, then Marion County’s planning division director, approved a conditional use permit for the location April 9, 2015.

After the current land owners in 2015 learned the mineral rights were not included in the property, Silverton Rock Farm applied to the Department of State Lands to purchase mineral and geothermal rights to the 63.1 acres in October of 2016.

At its June 2018 meeting, the State Lands Board voted to approve the sale of the mineral rights on the land to the owner.

The Oregon State Land Board is made up of Governor Kate Brown, Secretary of State Bev Clarno and State Treasurer Tobias Read. Then-Secretary of State Dennis Richardson was on the board when the Silverton Rock Farm decision was made.

Water source for Silverton

Silverton uses the Silverton Reservoir as its secondary water source with the Abiqua Creek as the primary source. The city uses an average of 41.5 million gallons of water per year from Silverton Reservoir.

In Marion County’s conditional use decision from 2015, it says the applicant worked with Silverton on property line adjustments on the border of Silver Creek with the city to ensure it doesn’t interfere with the creek, and the city didn’t indicate concerns about impacts of the rock extraction.

After the sale of the subsurface mineral rights for the property had been approved, the Department of State Land found there had not been a public comment period prior to the board’s approval.

The department opened a public comment period from March 18 to April 2, but it was a post about the potential sale  to the Silverton Connections Facebook group that sparked a flood of comments from residents of Silverton and those near the property raising concerns about potential impacts to Silver Creek.

“People are very protective of this town,” said Jeff Tinkham, a Silverton resident who says he is a firm believer in both personal property rights and environmental stewardship.

The public comment period was reopened after over 30 comments, nearly all against the sale, and is open until April 22.

But those kinds of comments may not matter.

“Concerns having to do with how the land is used, those are county matters,” Hansen said.

She said the Land Board may be asked to reconsider the matter if issues pertaining to the sale being a good financial decision for the state are raised, and even then the department may give the applicant the opportunity to address issues raised.

Marion County has extended the conditional use permit of the site to 2020, according to county public information coordinator Jolene Kelly.

Fennimore said Marion County can’t re-address the land-use issues the residents are now bringing up.

“We can’t go back now since we went through the approval process,” he said.

bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler