§ 35-350. "QD" Quarry District.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The quarry district "QD" is a special zoning district intended to allow for a quarry and related uses for the extraction of limestone and other raw materials and the processing of those materials into finished products. A "QD" must have within its boundaries, as a primary use, a material extraction and materials processing operation that is designed to extract limestone or any other similar materials which are mined on the property and/or which are processed on the property subsequent to mining. This district is designed to protect the environment and promote compatible land use relationships with adjoining properties and to allow for the safe development of commercial quarrying, cement, concrete products and lime manufacturing, and related industries, together with accessory support facilities that relate directly to the on-site quarrying, processing, and manufacturing operations. The district is specifically created in order to classify such materials extraction, processing and related uses in a district zoning category that expressly encompasses such uses, as opposed to the other ordinary districts within the permitted uses table, which do not specifically embody, collectively, such uses. "QD" is a zoning classification that is intended to allow for a broad range of directly related uses that would create a controlled environment for the development of diverse material extraction and processing activities, including by way of example but not limited to, mining, blasting, extraction, processing, handling, crushing, washing, screening, sorting, stockpiling, and the production, packaging, distribution, and transportation of: aggregate, ready-mix concrete, asphaltic concrete (with city council approval required within the ERZD), quicklime and hydrated lime, cement, concrete, precast and prestressed concrete products, Portland cement, concrete pipe, concrete blocks, and other concrete products within the district, including activities required for the support of such directly related operations, including but not limited to vehicle and rail maintenance and repair facilities, office and dispatch facilities, outdoor storage of materials, and other operations incidental to quarry operations.

(a)

Applicability. "QD" use regulations and operating standards set forth in this subdivision shall apply to all quarry and related processing uses within a "QD" district.

(b)

Permitted Uses. Within the district no building, structure, or land shall be used for any purpose other than the following, or any combination thereof, provided that such uses take place within the site specific boundaries of the district designated as "QD," or on which said activities are otherwise permitted by law, in accordance with the operating standards for this zoning district:

(1)

Testing for or extraction of raw materials such as limestone or other similar materials that are mined or removed without the use of blasting or explosives (or using blasting or explosives if approved under subsection (g) hereto).

(2)

The processing and handling of extracted materials including, but not limited to, loading, crushing, screening, washing, sorting, stockpiling, and distribution by rolling equipment or conveyor systems.

(3)

Production of materials and finished product through processing plants, including but not limited to cement plants, lime plants, ready-mix concrete plants, concrete batch plants, asphaltic concrete plants, pug mills and production facilities for precast and prestressed concrete, concrete blocks, packaged cement, packaged concrete, and concrete pipe.

(4)

Warehousing and distribution facilities for finished products and raw materials such as mined aggregate, raw cement in various stages of production (i.e., cement powder, clinker, gypsum, etc.).

(5)

Laboratory, weighing, and testing facilities for conducting tests and chemical analyses of materials.

(6)

The administrative activities associated with such uses including, but not limited to, offices and associated uses.

(7)

Outdoor storage of materials, equipment, spare parts and supplies.

(8)

Transportation related uses including, but not limited to the use of equipment, and trucking and railroad vehicles for transporting quarry materials and product to and from the particular site(s). This would include maintenance, repair, and storage of the equipment, and trucking and/or railroad vehicles utilized by the operator of the "QD."

(9)

Aboveground fuel storage that meets all applicable government regulations.

(10)

A preexisting quarry use in legal operation located in the "RP" or "RE" zoning districts or in an "I-1" or "I-2" industrial zoning districts may continue after the adoption of these regulations or after the rezoning of property to "QD."

(11)

Rail, vehicle and equipment maintenance facilities.

(c)

Operating Standards. It is the intent of these regulations to allow the existence of quarrying and processing operations which are sensitive to surrounding land uses and cognizant of the concerns of neighborhood interest and environmental interest with respect to protecting quality of life and ensuring protection of the environment. As such, the following operating standards are established to allow the quarry and processing operations to be carried out in a manner that is as compatible as possible with the surrounding land uses. All quarrying, processing, and related operations that are not the subject of nonconforming rights and that are performed in a quarry district "QD" shall be done and shall operate in conformance with the standards set forth in each applicable subsection below.

(1)

Frontage Requirements. All property within a "QD" shall have a minimum of sixty (60) feet of frontage on an adjacent public right-of-way or recorded easement, at least sixty (60) feet in width, which provides ingress or egress to public roads. Regardless of the frontage provided onto a public road a district shall comply with the provision of subsection (7), clear vision and queuing, below.

(2)

Natural Buffer. A natural area shall be maintained around the perimeter of the property within the district and no grading, removal, or disturbance of native plant material shall be allowed within fifty-five (55) feet of any perimeter property line of the property within the district or public right-of-way or proposed public right-of-way, except that such natural area may be maintained on an adjacent property in lieu of on the property within the district where the property owner adjacent to the perimeter of the property within the district grants a recorded irrevocable easement for non-development on such adjacent property equal to the buffer area that would otherwise be required, and where such easement is enforceable by both parties and the City of San Antonio. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the ability to maintain the natural area on adjacent property by easement shall not be allowed where the property adjacent to the property within the district is a public easement, right-of-way, or proposed right-of-way. Such easements may contain, as required, berms and fencing and an eighteen-foot-wide access road for the purpose of establishing and maintaining fencing, landscaping, access and/or security patrol.

(3)

Screening Requirements. Notwithstanding subsection (2) above, visual screening shall be required at any point where the active quarry pit is located within one hundred (100) feet of a public right-of-way carrying pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The visual screen in such areas shall not be less than six (6) feet in height at or near the property line and shall be made up of any combination of the following materials: existing native plant materials, supplementary plant materials, existing grading, berming, and/or fencing.

(4)

Fencing Requirements. A fence shall be provided around the perimeter of the property or not less than twenty-five (25) feet from the outer edge of any excavation that is ten (10) feet or greater in depth.

(5)

Excavation Setbacks. No excavation or extraction of material, other than is required for the installation and maintenance of fences, landscape screen, access points, crossings, or clear vision zones at entry points, shall be permitted closer than fifty-five (55) feet from the property line of any property adjoining the property located in the district that has been zoned for single-family residential use at the time such excavation or extraction has begun, or closer than fifty-five (55) feet from any public right-of-way, unless and except for any point at which a quarry or quarrying operations cross said public right-of-way. Such crossing shall not exceed the width limitations established by the governmental authority having jurisdiction of the applicable right-of-way. Due to the unique nature of quarries and their related operations, article V, division 3 of this chapter shall not apply within a "QD."

(6)

Facility Setbacks. All facilities for the production of finished products that are made from excavated materials (i.e., ready-mix concrete batch plants, lime plants, cement plants, concrete block plants, cement packaging plants, precast and prestressed yards, concrete pipe plants, and other similar facilities), which are constructed or installed after the effective date of this section, shall be located at least one hundred (100) feet from the property line of any adjoining property that is developed and/or zoned for residential uses at the time the facilities are constructed or installed, and at least fifty-five (55) feet from any public right-of-way on which pedestrian or vehicular access is allowed except for at points of crossing said right-of-way.

(7)

Clear Vision and Queuing Requirements. A triangular clear vision zone shall be provided at the intersection of all access points with public roads to provide an area of clear vision for vehicles. The zone shall be defined by a triangle consisting of three hundred (300) feet parallel with the public road and fifty (50) feet along the access road or drive measured from the intersection point of the two (2) rights-of-way. A queuing area sufficient to accommodate four (4) or more trucks of no less than two thousand four hundred (2,400) square feet shall be provided between the edge of the public right-of-way and the access point or gate station, whichever is nearest the public right-of-way.

(8)

Floodplain Protection. No building may be placed or excavation be conducted within one hundred fifty (150) feet from the outer limit of a 100-year floodplain. All NPDES and TEQC requirements must be met any time the quarry operations come within one hundred fifty (150) feet of a 100-year floodplain to prohibit silt or sediment from entering the creek or stream. These restrictions will not apply in any case where the floodplain is located more than one hundred fifty (150) feet inside the property line of the "QD." The buffer required by this provision shall in no case be wider than one hundred fifty (150) feet from the boundary line of the "QD."

(9)

Water Quality Protection. Operations within a "QD" shall comply with applicable water quality standards set forth in chapter 34 of the City Code.

(10)

Industrial Waste Monitoring. Upon request of the city fire department and/or solid waste management department, any person operating an activity within a "QD" shall provide, to the requesting agency's satisfaction, documentation evidencing the characterization, handling, and disposal of any industrial waste generated within the "QD." Documentation which will satisfy the characterization inquiry includes process knowledge literature and/or waste analysis records.

(11)

Material Safety Data. Upon request of the city fire department, independent of the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), any person operating an activity within a "QD" shall provide copies of material safety data sheets (MSDS) for material maintained, stored, or used within the "QD." The materials, subject of this section, are those materials whose properties for volatility, flammability, explosive potential, corrosiveness, radioactivity, or other toxic or hazardous property allow them to be listed in the North American Emergency Response Guidebook, current edition and as amended.

(12)

Blasting Setback. Blasting shall not be allowed within three hundred (300) feet of a residential structure under construction or completed at the time the "QD" is established. This requirement shall not apply in any case were the owner of such a residential structure has consented in writing to blasting occurring within less than three hundred (300) feet of the structure.

(d)

Identification of Boundaries and Surrounding Uses/ERZD Environmental Assessment Report.

(1)

Prior to the submission of a zoning case to the zoning commission for obtaining "QD" zoning on a property, a boundary map and metes and bounds description shall be provided by the applicant showing the outer perimeter line of the property that is owned, leased, under contract, or optioned by the operator and which the operation is to utilize. This boundary description and drawing shall be submitted to the city department of planning and development services and shall be considered the official boundary description on which the "QD" will be established and within which the permitted uses allowed in "QD" will be allowed. All setbacks and distance requirements shall be measured from the boundary lines identified on the boundary map provided under this section. If the applicant is not the owner of the property the applicant shall provide written authorization to act as agent on behalf of the owner, in a form acceptable to the city attorney.

(2)

Additional site information shall be made available by the applicant upon request by SAWS when such information is found to be necessary to perform the environmental assessment report required by section 35-471.

(3)

Given the unique nature of quarries and quarrying operations, the city hereby adopts the policy that all residential lots within a subdivision plat located one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet or less from a "QD" at the time of platting, be required to have a notation stating that a permitted "QD" is located within one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet of the given lot. The distance shall be calculated as the shortest straight line from the closest point on the lot's property line to the closest point on the permitted quarry district boundary.

(4)

The processing of an application for a "QD" zoning designation shall comport with requirements of section 35-471 of this chapter when the subject property is within the Edwards Recharge overlay zoning district, "ERZD." This requirement pertains to assessment of environmental impact by the city water system.

(e)

Site Plan Requirements. A site plan shall be submitted at the time any property owner initiates a zoning case by filing a zoning application requesting the establishment of a "QD." The site plan shall be submitted to the city department of planning and development services and shall graphically depict, generally to scale, the location and size of all permanent and affixed structures, buildings, and facilities in existence at the time of submission, and the location of any proposed facilities of buildings (if known), in relation to the boundaries of the property. The site plan shall also illustrate the location of all access points and their relationship to adjoining or crossing major thoroughfares. The information required by this section may be incorporated into the boundary map required by subsection (d), and an aerial photo may be used as the base document for the site plan.

(f)

Signs. Signs surrounding or within a "QD" may be to provide the following:

(1)

To identify the quarrying or manufacturing operations located within the district;

(2)

To inform customers of the quarry facility with respect to access points and the existence of the facility;

(3)

To identify the occupants or operations within a specific building or area of the district; and

(4)

To provide directional, safety, and other information to the general public, occupants, employees, patrons, and visitors to the district.

(5)

Signs within a district shall be in conformity with chapter 28 of the City Code (Signs and Billboards) to the extent those regulations apply. Signs shall be posted at all exit points from a permitted "QD" to a public road that reminds truckers that their loads must be covered in accordance with city and state regulations that impose fines if violated.

(g)

Special Use—Blasting. No blasting or use of explosives shall be permitted within a "QD" established after December 31, 1998, unless a specific use permit for such activity is granted for the "QD." If such approval is granted, blasting may be used within the boundaries of the "QD" provided such use complies with the applicable requirements of the Uniform Fire Code (UFC), as amended and adopted by the city council, and with chapter 16, article XIV of the City Code.

(h)

Special Use—Asphaltic Concrete Production. No asphaltic concrete production plants or storage of asphalt materials may be utilized within a "QD" located in the ERZD unless a specific use permit for such activity is granted for the "QD." If such approval is granted, asphaltic concrete production may occur within the area(s) of the "QD" for which such approval is given provided such use complies with the applicable requirements of the TEQC, the EPA, and of this chapter.

(i)

Reuse of "QD" After Termination Concept. After the quarry and related uses have terminated within a "QD," the property shall not be redeveloped for any purpose until a beneficial reuse concept plan (BRCP) has been prepared and submitted in accordance with the regulations of chapter 16 of the City Code and a new permanent base zoning district (i.e., "R-6," "R-20") has been applied for and received though the required public process including, at a minimum, one (1) or more public hearings before the zoning commission and the city council. At the time the application for rezoning the property for the new permit base zoning district is submitted, SAWS shall file as part of the zoning case a report reflecting the results from the inspections made by SAWS of the property being rezoned. The SAWS report shall also indicate whether the quarry operation is in apparent compliance with all of its state and federal environmental permits.

(j)

Existing Uses Allowed. Any use such as, but not limited to, livestock grazing, ranching operations, residential structures barns, offices, etc. that are in existence, allowed by lease, or that are otherwise nonconforming under article III, division 4 of this chapter at the time "QD" is established on the quarry and reserve property may continue.

(Ord. No. 98697 § 6) (Ord. No. 2010-11-18-0985, § 2, 11-18-10; Ord. No. 2015-12-17-1077 , § 2, 12-17-15)