In what’s become a 20-year battle, the dispute between Cobleskill Stone Products and the Town of Schoharie is finally headed to the Schoharie County Courtroom.
At issue is whether CSP has a “vested” right to expand its mine over the Village of Schoharie, even though it violates local zoning code.
CSP has sued the Town of Schoharie in the battle, which goes back to 2005 and after numerous appeals, the case will be heard by Appeals Court Justice Anthony Ferrara beginning Monday, October 21, though actual arguments aren’t expected to begin until the next day.
Judge Ferrara has been overseeing the case for the past five or six years; expert witnesses on both sides are expected to offer “highly technical” testimony.
In 2005, Cobleskill Stone Products applied to DEC to to expand its Schoharie quarry onto a large parcel of farmland and forest just outside the eastern border of the Village of Schoharie.
The proposed expansion would stretch from Rickard Hill Road to Warner Hill Road, next to Lasell Park, homes, the school, and senior citizens’ apartments as well as many home and historic buildings, according to the grassroots Save Our Schoharie, formed in response to those concerns.
After reviewing data, legal statements, and testimony from the Town of Schoharie, SOS, local residents, and technical experts, DEC Region 4 recommended that CSP’s expansion permit be denied.
CSP appealed the decision and also brought an Article 78 lawsuit against the Town of Schoharie, eventually getting the 2005 Land Use Law overturned on a technicality.
A new Land Use Law was adopted by the Town of Schoharie in 2015, and CSP is currently suing over that.
The site in question isn’t currently being mined.