Legal Issues Stall Mining Operation

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has postponed consideration of a construction company’s application to resume its mining operation on Cold Spring Road in Botsford until the P&Z’s lawyer researches legal issues stemming from that application.

Gravel miner Norman Nagy appeared before the P&Z June 1 seeking to have Nagy Brothers Construction Company’s gravel mining permit for its 12 Cold Spring Road property reinstated. The firm has mined the property since 1954, Mr Nagy said. The Monroe firm is seeking to reinstate its permit for a particular area on site that it has mined since 1974, he said.

The mining operation is under a cease-and-desist order to stop work from the town zoning enforcement officer.

P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano said a dispute exists concerning whether the construction company or an adjacent property owner owns nine acres of the site.

Mr Nagy said the company owns the property in question. He provided a copy of a deed to the P&Z.

The P&Z had denied the company’s annual reapplication for a gravel mining permit last year due to a technicality, Mr Nagy said.

Mr Fogliano said the company’s mining of the property poses complex issues. The P&Z’s attorney has advised it not to act on the mining application until the attorney researches the legal issues connected with it, the chairman said.

The Cold Spring Road mining operation, which started before town zoning regulations went into effect, has been considered a pre-existing, non-conforming use of the property which is subject to annual relicensing requirements as specified in the town’s land use regulations.

Nagy Brothers has a lawsuit pending against the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in seeking to overturn ZBA decisions that prevent the firm from continuing to mine.

In that lawsuit, the firm also states the P&Z last August denied its annual permit application for gravel mining without having provided the firm with an opportunity to appear before the P&Z and be heard, thus negating the town’s issuance of the cease-and-desist stop-work order on the mining operation.

In that lawsuit, the firm states that because the mining operation is a pre-existing, non-conforming land use, it does not require a mining permit.

 The town is scheduled to respond to the lawsuit in Danbury Superior Court June 20.