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Ban mining, residents tell board
Daily Freeman, Friday, March 22, 2002 p. A3 By Ariel Zangla,
Correspondent
A new round of hearings begins in Saugerties following a lawsuit in response
to earlier passage of an amendment to the town's zoning law.
SAUGERTIES - The majority of residents speaking at the first of a second round
of public hearings on a proposed amendment to the town's zoning law that would
prohibit mining in residential areas urged the Town Board to pass the amendment
again.
The amendment under discussion at Thursday night's hearing had been passed by
the Town Board in October. But due to a lawsuit filed by Shott Rock, Inc., the
board is holding additional hearings.
Shott Rock, which had wanted to mine 45 acres of property in the residential
hamlet of Veteran off of Morse Road, said the Town Board's decision to pass
the amendment last year was arbitrary and capricious. It also claimed that notice
of the original hearings had not been properly given.
Town officials said they felt they had done everything correctly the first time
they passed the amendment, but decided to hold the hearings again before voting
on the amendment just in case the judge did not agree with them. Only two people
spoke against the amendment during the hearing. One of them was an attorney
for developer Gilbert Shott. The other was a resident who owns a mine with her
husband.
Kathleen Bennett, an attorney with the law firm of Bond, Schoeneck and King of Syracuse, said the proposed amendment is retaliatory in nature and will send a negative message to businesses that want to come to Saugerties. She said the amendment was aimed specifically at Shott and showed other businesses that, even if they want to build in the community, the residents could move to block them by trying to have the zoning laws changed. Bennett also said the amendment goes against the town's Comprehensive Plan because the plan encourages diversity of business and industry. The plan does not specifically say no mines are allowed in the town, she added. "The writers of the plan knew how to say no," Bennett said.
Residents speaking in favor of the amendment said it was not aimed specifically at Shott, but added that the company had been the one that galvanized the town to correct a long-standing problem with its zoning law. They also said that to allow mining in residential zones would cause environmental damage, affect air and water quality, decrease neighboring property values and affect the health of residents. They also talked about noise and traffic concerns stemming from the mine.
"If someone came to your home and started being destructive, wouldn't you ask them to leave?" resident Sharon Holowecki said. "Well, Mr. Shott, I am asking you to leave - again."