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Mining rules face hearing
By Ariel Zangla, Correspondent September 20, 2001 SAUGERTIES -

   The Town Board plans the first of two public hearings this evening on a proposed zoning change that would affect where mining can be done in the town. Tonight's hearing, slated for 6:30 p.m. in the large pavilion at Cantine Field, may move to the Senior Center on Market Street.
    The proposed zoning amendment would allow mining in industrial zones by right, subject to site plan approval if specified limits are exceeded. It would also allow mining in highway business zones upon the issuance of a special permit, and would prohibit mining in all other areas.
    Town Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel said the amendment would prohibit mining in residential areas. He said the amendment is not meant to attacking any individual or site, but fixes a flaw in the zoning law that no one ever saw before. Under the current zoning law, he said, a mining operation could be started in anyone's back yard, and he said that is a flaw that needs to be corrected. He said the amendment would probably stop plans by Shott Rock Inc., currently before the Planning Board, to reopen a mine in the hamlet of Veteran, off Morse Road. But he said the amendment is not aimed specifically at Shott Rock.
    The situation, he said, is similar to the town's response when it heard that someone wanted to start a nude dancing establishment in the area. He said the Town Board looked at its zoning law, discovered that the business could be put anywhere, and acted swiftly to correct that flaw in its zoning ordinance.
    Helsmoortel said he expects the majority of residents at tonight's hearing to support the amendment and speak out against mining.
    Pat Fitzsimmons, the chairman of the anti-mining group Citizens Action for Residential Environments in Saugerties (CARES), said the group plans to have at least five speakers at the hearing, discussing impacts of mining on home values, traffic and noise. The group had originally expected to have more people attending the meeting than could fit into the Senior Center, but with the terrorist attacks on the U.S. last week, the possibility of rain and an open house at Saugerties Junior-Senior High School, fewer are now expected to be in attendance, Fitzsimmons said.
    Mike Moriello, an attorney representing Gilbert Shott of Shott Rock Inc., said he plans to attend the public hearing but would not discuss what he intends to say.

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