For at least the next six months, there will be no work done on a proposed stone quarry in the Town of Shelby.
The Town Board declared moratoriums on mining as well as windmill construction Tuesday.
“That gives the town the time to review our local laws on these subjects and adopt changes,” said Supervisor Merle Draper. “We will ask our zoning and planning boards to review both of these issues and make recommendations to the board.”
While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is the lead agency in the permitting process and will continue an environmental impact review, Draper said, the board will make the final decision on whether to allow the intended 215-acre mine to be built on Fletcher Chapel Road.
Town Attorney David Schubel said the DEC will determine the outcome of operational uses for the land, but the final authority rests in the hands of local government.
“I think it’s important to recognize the town has control over the land use and this is land use,” he said.
But whatever the outcome is, the town expects a fight from either the residents surrounding the site and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge or Frontier Stone, the company that wants to use the land to extract dolomite and limestone.
“The way things are heading there’s going to be some legal issue regardless of the outcome,” Draper said.
David Mahar, owner of the mining company, who was in attendance, said he was in favor of the moratorium.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “It gives a chance for everybody to do their homework.”
Wendi Pencille, an outspoken critic of the mine was excited to hear a brief report from Code Enforcement Officer David Bushover.
“I think tonight at the meeting one of the significant statements was that the land would have to be re-zoned as industrial for this application and a special use permit would be required from the planning board,” she said. “We are not against quarrying and we’re not against these men. But this sized quarry in this area is not appropriate and an industrial application in this area is not appropriate.”
Contact Michael Regan at (585) 798-1400, Ext. 2226.
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