A company that seeks to extract about 50 million tons of limestone from a quarry in the town of Ulster has filed a lawsuit claiming the town”™s decision to rezone the area six years ago, constitutes an illegal “regulatory taking,” for which the town must pay the property owners. The town will contest the suit, saying it is without merit.
The property owned by The Eddyville Corp. is accessed off Route 32 in Bloomington via an unnamed, unmarked private roadway just south of a veterinary hospital. The 43-acre operational section of the mine is part of a 370-acre parcel on Fly Mountain, on land between Routes 213 and 32 that was mined for lightweight aggregate materials until the 1980s.
The Eddyville Corp., which bought the site in the 1990s and had no connection with previous mining operations, planned to restart mining operations in 2002. But in July 2004, after a vigorous campaign by neighbors against the mine, the Ulster Town Board voted unanimously to change the zoning in the area so as to prohibit any mining.
Attorneys for the company at the time did not dispute the legality of the zoning change and said they would explore other uses for the property. However, they warned at the time that if no economically viable use was found they would approach the town for compensation. Now, just before the statute of limitations on legal action to contest the zoning change expired, the company moved to assert their claim the zoning change was a “taking” and must be compensated.
The company has estimated that “approximately 50 million tons” of limestone could be mined from the site, according to court papers filed by the Albany-based law firm of Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna L.L.P. “Based on the topography and layout of the property, other than mining, the property is not suitable for any other use.”
The town rezoning action “Is an unconstitutional regulatory taking of plaintiff”™s property because the regulatory action bears no reasonable relationship to a legitimate public purpose and/or has caused plaintiff to incur a severe economic impact in interference with plaintiff”™s reasonable expectations,” the lawsuit states. “Specifically, the prohibition of mining … renders approximately 400 acres of property essentially valueless and exceeds (town) zoning powers.”?Ulster Town Supervisor James E. Quigley 3rd said he cannot discuss legal details while litigation is pending. He said the town would seek a 30-day extension from the current early August reply date to the suit.
“What I can say is the suit is without merit. The town will vigorously defend its position.”
