I am a resident of Dresden. I live on the Middle Road in an area zoned as “Rural Residential.”

Imagine my surprise a couple months back when I was notified that the town Planning Board was considering a proposed ledge pit (which I and others would call a strip mine) directly south of my house.

I went to the meeting to object. The Planning Board, I thought, was there to enforce the ordinances of the town. Silly me!

It turns out that they are there to subvert the land use ordinance by allowing activity that is not compatible with the nature of the district. Essentially, almost anything in any district can be approved by the Planning Board with a conditional use permit.

The land use ordinance is very clear as to what types of activity is allowed in the area without a conditional permit. Dynamiting, rock crushing and the resulting chaos, dust, odors, truck traffic and noise created by a ledge pit will occur. The Planning Board implicitly concluded that these activities are compatible with (and do not impair) existing uses in the rural living district.

I never thought the town would turn its back on one of its residents. Apparently the fix was in. It was to be a done deal. Subsequently, we were sent a notice of a meeting to discuss a proposed office/maintenance (shop) building to be built on a property in the same area. It turns out that the 60-by-40-by-16-foot building is to be used for heavy equipment storage, maintenance and repair.

Same response from the Planning Board: No enforcement of the spirit of the ordinance.

There is a pattern here. The Planning Board is not protecting the interests of residents of the town.

We are pursuing legal means to halt the mining project. If anyone has any ideas how to stop this, I am listening.

 

Mike Fraumeni

Dresden

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