50 Years Ago
In 1975 attorney Leo Bradley was hoping to open a quarry on South Table Mountain. The April 24, 1975 Golden Transcript described a well-attended meeting of the Jefferson County Planning Commission, which was reviewing Mr. Bradley’s application.
Bradley is representing the Adolph Coors Company and two other landowners who applied for the rezoning of 940 acres to the county’s new zone classification that preserves commercial mineral deposits…. While there are no plans to mine the Coors property, Bradley has stated that if the mineral conservation zoning is granted he would immediately seek a permit to mine the property owned by his wife, Patricia Bradley, and her sister, Maryanna Johnson.
Golden Transcript – April 24, 1975
When asked what he planned to do with the property after the rock was excavated, Bradley replied that there were no plans. One of the Planning Commissioners said she believed he had told a group in Pleasant View that the land would become a reservoir. “Your impression was dead wrong,” Bradley replied.
A geologist testified that if the volcanic caprock was removed from the mountain top, rain and snow would seep into the lower parts of the mountain and would drain out of the west face, increasing the possibility of landslides.
A petroleum geologist submitted a report noting that 38 landslide deposits had been mapped on North and South Table Mountains by the USGS, indicating “the extreme instability and present delicate equilibrium of the mountain slopes.”
Several citizen groups voiced their objections to the quarry and asked that the applicants submit “a complete environmental impact statement with more specific information concerning dust pollution, noise, truck traffic, drainage, and after-use.”
Post Script: Attorney Bradley never gave up his efforts to quarry South Table Mountain. He died in 2004. His wife, Patricia, died in 2021. Their children recently presented a plan to install solar panels on the family’s South Table Mountain property. The county rejected the application.
Most of the top of the mesa is now Jefferson County Open Space.
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