Town wins court fight to shutter junk yard
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. >> The town has won its court battle against Buck’s Junk Yard, clearing the way for the operation to be shut down.
In a ruling dated Feb. 16, state Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott wrote that the town demonstrated property owner Don Mackenzie had continued to operate a “junk yard in violation of Ulster Town Law Section 101-4a” and “failed to submit any competent evidence in rebuttal or to demonstrate any palpable effort to correct the cited deficiencies in order to obtain a junk yard license.”
Town of Ulster Supervisor James Quigley said the next step will be for the town of work with Ulster County about how to deal with the junked vehicles on the Buck’s property, which is at 1015 Route 213 in the hamlet of Eddyville.
“I think we’re going to have to work jointly with the county ... because [Mackenzie] is arrears on his real estate taxes,” Quigley said, implying that adding the cleanup costs to Mack-
enzie’s tax bill would be fruitless. “The property ... at this point probably will revert to the county for the nonpayment of taxes.”
Quigley said Mott’s ruling against the junk yard “is a permanent injunction” and that if Mackenzie violates it, “he could be held in contempt of court.”
Mackenzie could not be reached for comment Friday. His lawyer, Richard Mahon, declined to comment, saying he had not yet shared the ruling with Mackenzie.
The town initiated legal action against Mackenzie in June 2015 following years of unsuccessful efforts to have him comply with town zoning regulations.
In 2011, the town Zoning Board of Appeals turned down a request by Mackenzie to lift a “stop work” order regarding the junk yard. Later the same year, the town granted Mackenzie a conditional site plan for the junk operation, but Mackenzie failed to meet the conditions.
The Town Board voted on Nov. 1, 2012, to deny Mackenzie’s application for continued operation of the junk yard, and two appeals filed by Mackenzie between then and mid2014 were rejected.
Mackenzie was cited by the state Department of Environmental Conservation in March 2010 for numerous hazardous waste violations, including not having a contingency plan for fires or spills; accepting unauthorized materials; improper draining, removal and collection of fluids; and not properly storing or marking fluid containers.