MINING APPLICATION GETS REVIEW
DAILY FREEMAN, September 6, 2001, (A5) Region by William J. Kemble, Correspondent
SAUGERTIES -
Opponents of an application by Shott Rock for a mining
operation on about 45 acres near Morse Road have succeeded in getting a town
Zoning Board of Appeals review of two complaints involving the application.
The appeal filed by members of Citizens Action for
Residential Environments in Saugerties is scheduled to be discussed during the
zoning board meeting at Pam Monday, when officials have been asked to determine
whether a pre-submission conference should have taken place and whether the
town Planning Board was required to formally vote on accepting lead agency status.
In a letter to residents near the mine, opposition
spokesman Pat Fitzsimmons said the session is intended to determine whether
town procedures were followed.
"CARES argues that Shott violated the town zoning law
that requires a pre-submission conference between the Planning Board and the
applicant," he said.
Town Planning Board members voted last month to endorse
a Town Board request to seek the lead agency role but did not conduct a vote
in July following discussions about the application. Last month, Planning Board
Chairman William Creen said a letter sent to the state Department of Environmental
Conservation turning over the responsibility reflected sentiment of board members
who believed the town doesn't have enough resources to conduct a review.
State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional
Permit Administrator Margaret Duke previously said the question of lead agency
will be brought to the commissioner for a ruling but that the agency usually
seeks the status due to control needed over mining operations.
"We have a policy in the department that the DEC will
be lead on mining applications because state regulations supersede that of local
government," she said.
Fitzsimmons said the second appeal seeks an "interpretation
that a decision of the Planning Board to assume or renounce lead agency status
under (state environmental review law) is an official action that requires a
vote of the [a] majority."
Efforts to gain support to have a special use permit
application turned down have included establishing a Web site at www.stopthemine.com
and issuing a mailing to inform residents in the hamlets of Veteran, Centerville,
Cedar Grove and Blue Mountain, of upcoming meetings.
Included are public hearings on Sept. 20 and Oct. 11,
when the Town Board will review whether zoning regulations should be changed
to restrict mining to industrial, light industrial, and office districts while
eliminating the special permit provisions in residential zones. The Village
Board voted Tuesday to oppose the application.