Town of Shelby

MORATORIUM ISSUED ON MINING, WINDMILLS:

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.