| Shott
Dead Suit filed against town dropped by mine owner
Putting an end to a three-year legal battle over a mining operation, attorneys for Gilbert Shott, owner of Shott Rock, withdrew a pending federal court lawsuit against the town of Saugerties and indicated that there would be no appeal to the dismissal of another suit against the town in the state supreme court. On November 22, town attorney John Vagianelis of the Albany-based firm Roemer Wallens & Mineaux received notice that Shott Rock had stipulated to end the federal litigation challenging the town's 2001 zoning change to ban residential mining. Several weeks prior on October 7, state supreme court justice Vincent Bradley dismissed Shott's Article 78 filed against the town and the town zoning board of appeals (ZBA) linked to the denial of a permit for Shott to mine bluestone on his property off of Morse Road. "All of the pending litigation is done," said Vagianelis. "There is no current outstanding case still alive. Everything is over with." In this federal lawsuit Shott sought damages from the town, arguing that Saugerties officials - town building inspector Paul Andreassen, town supervisor Greg Helsmoortel and the then town board of Philip Palladino, Marie Post, William Scala, Mike Sommers, Thomas Macarille and Philip Tucker - began enforcement actions against Shott Rock for seeking a mining permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). U.S. district court judge Lawrence E. Kahn dismissed four of the five claims in the suit, permitting only the retaliation allegation to continue. Vagianelis is "not entirely sure why" Shott withdrew, but said: "From the town standpoint we don't believe [his claim] had any merit." As previously reported in the Saugerties Times, in 1998 Shott bought the land in Veteran with the intentions of mining the property for bluestone. He had been permitted to remove stone already palletized at the mine located above Morse Road, behind the former Veteran Pork Store on Route 212. The town adopted a zoning law banning special-use permits for mining in residential neighborhoods in October 2001. Subsequently Shott and his attorney Kevin Bernstein brought the town to court in 2002 over this law, arguing that the ban was an illegal taking of Shott's property and not in compliance with the town's comprehensive plan. Bradley dismissed the suit. The ZBA denied Shott's application to have his mining activities added to the town's recognized pre-existing businesses. Shott contended that as mining had occurred on the land before the town enacted zoning in 1989, he should be allowed to continue. In April 2003, town building inspector Paul Andreassen denied Shott's request for non-conforming use status and a reversal of the stop work order issued by the town in 2001. Several months later, Shott tried to appeal the town code enforcement officer's decision that mining activities on the property were not a legal pre-existing non-conforming use on the property. In July 2003, the state supreme court appellate division rejected an appeal by Shott Rock of a decision by Bradley that maintained a town zoning law that prohibited Shott from mining bluestone in a residential area. Regarding the October 2004 ruling, Bradley determined that Shott could not prove the land had been used substantially as a mine prior to 1989 and that the previous owner's usage had "consisted almost entirely of the occasional removal of stone from spoils piles." Bradley also stated that the prior owner had not tried to get a special use and site plan permit for the property or to register the property as a pre-existing use or business when the town adopted the zoning ordinance in 1989. Bradley concluded that Shott's claim that his activities at the property met the definition of "mining" contained in the Environmental Conservation Law was "without merit" on the grounds that Shott had "presented no credible and specific evidence" documenting that these thresholds had been reached in the time before Shott's ownership. Shott's accusation that the ZBA had violated the state Open Meetings Law by privately conferencing with its attorney and that the board's decision had resulted in "inverse condemnation" was also rejected by Bradley.
Representatives from the Citizens' Action for Residential Environments in Saugerties, Inc (CARES), which organized against the Shott mine, expressed relief over the recent action. "CARES has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving," said CARES president March Gallagher. "Hundreds of CARES' supporters gave time, energy and money to stop the mine in Saugerties. The town board overcame political differences to unanimously adopt a change to zoning that eliminated residential mining in Saugerties. The town of Saugerties ZBA thoughtfully weighed evidence of whether Mr. Shott had a nonconforming mining use on the property and found that he did not. Essentially the whole Saugerties community rallied around CARES' efforts. In addition, supreme court judge Bradley ruled in the town's favor on three separate cases brought against the town of Saugerties." "It sounds like a prudent decision for Shott Rock to make under the circumstances," Andreassen
said. "Hopefully the town can now move forward." Shott and attorneys for Shott
Rock could not be reached at press time.
|