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1
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OPINION
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EXTRACTED KEY WORDS
ZONING ORDINANCE MINING LAW MINED LAND RECLAMATION PETITIONER MATTER PROVISIONS SARDINIA YORK REFERRALS AUTHORITY RESPONDENT NY2D SPECIAL PERMIT MUNICIPALITY ENVIRONMENT LOCAL ZONING ORDINANCE NONCONFORMING LEGISLATION SEQRA PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC HEARING ZONING DISTRICTS EXECUTIVE SESSION MLRL OPEN MEETINGS LAW MINING OPERATIONS PUBLICATION STATUTORY PROVISIONS RELATING |
IN THE MATTER OF GERNATT ASPHALT PRODUCTS, INC., RESPONDENT, v. THE TOWN OF
SARDINIA, ET AL., APPELLANTS.
87 N.Y.2d 668, 664 N.E.2d 1226, 642 N.Y.S.2d 164 (1996).
March 28, 1996
(Case Commentary by Editorial Board)
4 No. 48(1996 NY Int. 58)
Decided March 28, 1996
_________________________________________________________________
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
David J. Seeger, for Appellants.
Gary J. O'Donnell, for Respondent.
SIMONS, J.:
Petitioner challenges the legality of amendments to the Town of
Sardinia's Zoning Ordinance which eliminated mining as a permitted use
throughout the Town. The principal issues presented are whether: (1)
the Town violated various statutory provisions relating to referral
and public notice of the amendments when it enacted some but not all
of the amendments that were proposed; (2) the New York State Mined
Land Reclamation Law supersedes the Town's authority to amend its
Zoning Ordinance in a manner that eliminates mining as a permitted use
throughout the Town; and (3) whether the Town's action constituted
impermissible exclusionary zoning. Also presented are secondary issues
regarding the Town's compliance with procedures mandated by the State
Environmental Quality Review Act and the Open Meetings provisions of
the Public Officers Law.
The Town of Sardinia is a small rural community located in Western
New York. Farming is the economic mainstay but it is rich in deposits
of extractable minerals. Eight mines, covering over 600 acres, are
presently located within the Town. The mining uses were lawful under
the Town Zoning Ordinance adopted in 1969, which permitted mining in
all R-A districts and, by incorporation, in all other districts in the
Town. Town Board approval of a mining site was required, and
conditioned on consideration of the possible nuisance to neighbors of
the proposed site and the miner's plan to restore the land after
mining operations ceased.
Petitioner Gernatt has conducted mining operations at several sites
within the Town for many years and presently owns three operating
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