Town loses round in court over mining application
The town is reviewing its options in the wake of Red Wing Sand and Gravel successfully challenging a state Supreme Court decision that prevented the company from expanding its mining operation off White Schoolhouse Road.
The court’s Appellate Division recently sent the matter back to the lower court for review.
Town Attorney Warren Replansky said during a Town Board meeting this week that the scope of the Red Wing’s application has decreased in the three years since the lower court issued its ruling.
“They are seeking approval for 94 acres, as opposed to [125] acres,” he said.
Replansky said the appellate court is requiring the lower court to amend the 2017 ruling but that specific flaws in that ruling were not specified.
The lower court ruling sided with the town Zoning Board of Appeals, and Replansky said of the appellate court action that, “essentially, the decision of the zoning board was ignored ... and we were quite concerned about that.”
In the 2017 ruling, Justice Maria Rosa wrote the Zoning Board of Appeals correctly found that Red Wing had not demonstrated an intent to mine the entire property prior to the adoption of a corrected map.
Rosa’s ruling came nine years after Red Wing applied to develop a 125-acre mine near a depleted 36.5acre mine on its Rhinebeck property.
In a separate application to the town Planning Board, Red Wing sought to renew its permit to operate on the 36.5-acre property. That request was turned down in 2014.