Opponents say construction company, city skirting rock crushing regulations

ANSONIA — Residents battling a rock crushing facility on Riverside Drive say the city and facility want to change zoning regulations in an attempt to retroactively allow the business to crush rocks.

City officials disagree, saying Burns Construction Inc. is legally running its facility but wants to change the regulations to allow it to move its rock crushing to another part of its property, away from neighbors.

“This is the correct process. We're very happy that Burns stepped forward to do this,” said City Attorney John Marini. “The court essentially froze the legal proceedings until the fall to give Burns Construction time to do this.”

Burns Construction Inc., the owner of the property, filed for a zoning text amendment application May 6, according to attorneys representing the company and the residents.

But neighbors and the city disagree on what the amendment will do.

Marini said the application will allow the city to implement more restrictions on the legally operating facility and take residents’ concerns into account.

Resident Brian Perkins, who has been a vocal critic of the business, disputed Marini’s explanation.

“If they claim it's legal and it's deemed legal, there should be no reason to amend anything,” he said.

Perkins grew up in Ansonia and returned in January after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He said he was aware of the rock crushing facility but recently got involved in opposing it after speaking to neighbors of the property.

Neighbors have argued against the property’s current use for more than a year, claiming that rock crushing on the Riverside Drive site was found to be in violation of zoning laws as far back as 2002. On Oct. 2, 2002, the city’s then-zoning code enforcement officer ordered Complete Construction, which used the site, to discontinue such work, they said.

Complete Construction has since gone out of business and sold the site to Burns Construction in 2019. The site is near the vacant Ansonia Copper and Brass complex.

Burns was given a permit to operate in February 2020. The property is industrially zoned and is operating as a contractor’s yard. Rock crushing is a permitted use, the company said.

The neighbors said that the permit issued in February 2020 was illegal, and in October 2020 were prepared to complain about the noise, fumes and dust from the business at a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting but were told they had the wrong place — complaints should be made in Superior Court.

So the neighbors, who had formed the Westwood Association to fight the property’s use, hired Milford attorney Kevin Cruseaden to do so. He filed a complaint in Superior Court in November 2020 asking that the neighbors be allowed to make a formal complaint before the Zoning board.

The court set a Dec. 8 hearing date but rescheduled the case at least twice.

As of the latest court filing, a brief from the neighbors is due Sept. 15, 2021; a brief from the city/business is due Oct. 15. A trial date, if one is needed, will be set by the court after that.

As part of the fight against Burns, Perkins created a change.org petition titled “Tell Ansonia’s Zoning Enforcement Officer to Uphold the Law and Stop Illegal Rock Crushing” which, as of May 14, has drawn 135 signatures.

He’s taken to social media and posted a video that criticizes the rock crushing facility as well as the city’s response to complaints. The video, released on May 9, includes a recording of the noise at the facility. He has also written a letter criticizing the city government that was published by local media.

Leonard Marazzi, who lives near Burns Construction, characterized the amendment as an attempt to placate the residents without telling residents what changes will be made.

“Their attorney has contacted our attorney and told us that the city wants to make a text change, which means they want to change the zoning regulations to allow rock crushing.” He said.

Cruseaden said that he’s not sure what exactly the text amendment will allow, but said the city is favoring the company, despite stating they want to work with the residents.

“They say they're trying to work through it amicably and they hear the people's concerns, but really what happened was they illegally issued a permit for this use,” he said.

The city has maintained that Burns is legally using the property.

Barry Knott, attorney for Burns Construction Inc., said the amendment would let Burns change the location of the rock crushing operation within the company’s property. This would satisfy all sides, he said.

“Fortunately, the site is so big at 46 acres that we have ample room to segregate the rock crushing facility from neighboring properties. I'm in the process of preparing that regulation,” he said.

Knott said that the concerns over the legality of the rock crushing stem from a misunderstanding of zoning regulations. The zoning amendment is a way for all sides to come to a resolution without going to court, he said.

Knott said that he’s been a zoning attorney for 46 years and has always faced some form of opposition, so knew he was going to get pushback.

“I'm not surprised about the petition, and I'm not particularly concerned about it,” he said.