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Saugerties
will take mine owner to court to halt operations at site SAUGERTIES - The Town Board has authorized the town attorney to seek a court order to stop activity at the Shott Mine property on Morse Road in the hamlet of Veteran. Despite the town's efforts to halt commercial activity at the site, loads of stone have been trucked from the site since Monday, when Shott Mine filed an appeal with the town Zoning Board of Appeals. The Syracuse law firm of Bond, Schoeneck and King, which is representing Shott Mine, has accused town Building Inspector Paul Andreassen of acting "arbitrarily and capriciously" in issuing a stop-work order on May 12. The law firm claims the order was retaliation for Shott's court challenge of a zoning change adopted by the Town Board last May, prohibiting mining in residential districts. A state Supreme Court ruling last November upheld the town as correctly following environmental laws, but Shott is appealing that decision. Company owner Gilbert Shott's son, Michael, began removing palletized bluestone from his father's property early on May 12 and by the time Andreassen arrived to enforce the order, six tractor-trailer loads of valuable bluestone had already been removed. Shott Mine claims the right to remove the previously palletized stone under an April 18 ruling by state Deputy Environmental Conservation Commissioner James Ferriera. Ferriera ruled that removing the palletized stone did not constitute mining. An estimated 1,200 pallets of stone with a value of $250,000 are said to be on the site. Shott is also applying for a state permit to begin mining the 45-acre property. Monday, Andreassen asserted that his Oct. 1, 2001, stop-work order was "never rescinded" and demands that "all mining-related activity must cease." Andreassen said the argument that previously palletized material from mining activity prior to 1975 is being removed is "not factual." He said Shott has been "continually altering the property" to "excavate, crush and alter" the material on his land since taking ownership in 1998. Andreassen said he denied Shott a certificate of occupancy in prohibiting a wholesale trade use for the property, an activity restricted by town zoning laws. Shott's property is in an R-2 residential district, where commercial, wholesale trade, and mining are prohibited. The building inspector said the town "reserves the right to uphold the laws specific to Saugerties." Ferreira's ruling, he said, specified Shott was required to remove the bluestone "in compliance with applicable laws and regulations." Andreassen concludes Shott must request a use variance from the town Zoning Board of Appeals or request a zoning change from the Town Board to proceed with mining activity. Shott Mine claims Andreassen has no authority to deny of a certificate of occupancy, since the company never requested one. - Correspondent Aimee J. Frank contributed to this report.
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