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Shott Down Twice State and federal courts both threw punches this week at Gilbert Shott of Shott Rock, Inc., but left him and his dream of a bluestone mine in the hamlet of Veteran standing. On February 11, U.S. Northern District Court judge Lawrence E. Kahn approved the town of Saugerties's motion to dismiss much of a lawsuit Shott filed in June, 2003 against the town after its building inspector Paul Andreassen issued a second stop-work order (the first was in 2001) and the police issued an appearance ticket to Shott's son when he tried to enter the site in a truck before 9 a.m. In this latest lawsuit, Shott claimed the town violated his First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by trying to stop his mining operation in a residential neighborhood. He was left standing with his First Amendment claim, which charged that the town retaliated against him for his "protected speech" of filing lawsuits with state Supreme Court and appealing to the town zoning board of appeals. The town allegedly retaliated with the 2003 stop-work order and appearance ticket, according to the claim. Kahn stated only that he thought that particular claim was sufficient enough to proceed to trial. Shott claimed his Fifth Amendment rights had been violated by the town because their actions hindered use of his own property without providing just compensation. But Kahn dismissed the claim on the grounds that Shott bought the property knowing he would have to apply for a special use permit, and that mining on the property was not an inherent right. Kahn pointed out that Shott did not claim mining was a pre-existing use on the land during prior litigation in 2002 in Ulster County Supreme Court. To Shott's claim that the town denied him due process by stopping him from removing palletized bluestone, Kahn argued that Shott did not appeal the October, 2001 stop-work order and therefore failed to avail himself of that process. Kahn also denied Shott's request for punitive damages due to an applicable law that states punitive damages are not available against government officers sued in their official capacities. On February 5, the state Supreme Court justice in Greene County, Leslie E. Stein, granted a motion requested by the town of Saugerties for a change of venue that will return Shott's challenge to a Saugerties zoning board of appeals decision back to a state Supreme Court venue in Ulster County. Shott filed the suit to overturn the local decision in Greene County, which he can do because the two counties are in the same state-designated Third Judicial District and the case can therefore legally be heard in either court. Shott is challenging the zoning board of appeals December, 2003 decision that Shott Rock could not be "grandfathered in" as a pre-existing, nonconforming use. He is also suing for monetary damages. Shott lost two previous lawsuits against the town over the 1989 adoption of the zoning laws that barred mining operations in residentially zoned areas. Both the state Supreme Court and appellate division sided with the town. While Citizens Action for Residential Environments in Saugerties (CARES) is not part of the federal lawsuit against the town, the group will help defend the town in Shott's case against the zoning board of appeals decision, CARES chairwoman March Gallagher said. "We think the town is so right, we're willing to spend our money to prove it," Gallagher said. Although CARES has no stake in Shott's federal lawsuit against the town, Gallagher predicted he would fail in that case as well. "It's not going to be successful," she said. "The town has had the consistent position that he could not remove stone since 2001. They only re-issued [the stop-work order] in 2003. There are no damages since he got to take out the palletized stone under [state Supreme Court justice Vincent] Bradley anyway." Judge Bradley has allowed Shott to remove palletized stone in trucks during certain hours. Town attorney John Vagianelis and Shott attorney Kevin Bernstein could not be reached in time for this report.
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