No Blasting Operation in Rochester
By Martha Slater

There will be no blasting and rock crushing operation in Rochester—at least for now.

The District #3 Act 250 Commission has granted a request for "dismissal without prejudice" of an application from Rochester Sand and Gravel to open a gravel pit and blasting and rock crushing operation on Route 100, several miles south of the village. The proposed site was originally developed in 1950 and last worked 1992.

The application was originally submitted in December 2006, on behalf of landowners Mike and Ethan Bowen, and the Kingsbury Construction Co., based in Waitsfield, who partnered to form Rochester Sand and Gravel. The new company would be headquartered at Kingsbury Construction.

In February 2007, about 75 people attended a hearing about the project at the Rochester Town Office, and opposition to the project was nearly unanimous among those present. Concerns were voiced about air quality, waste disposal, storm water running onto abutting land, soil erosion, noise levels, increased traffic causing safety hazards, particularly going by the school; possible damage to wells and home foundations, decreased property values, critical wildlife habitat, and preservation of the character of the town.

At that time, Jeff Sherwin of Kingsbury Construction said he wasn’t discouraged by the opposition expressed at the hearing, noting, "We’re going to continue to work on this and try to address everyone’s concerns and see if it’s a feasible project."

The district commission recessed the public hearing for the application on July 30, 2007, pending submittal of additional information from the applicant and parties. During the pendency of the recess, the commission received a request from the co-applicants to dismiss the application without prejudice.

William T. Burke, acting coordination for the District #3 Environmental Commission, confirmed for The Herald last Friday that dismissing the application "without prejudice" meant that "the applicant could at some point in the future come back and re-apply," but was unwilling to talk on the record about any other aspect of the dismissal.

The dismissal comes after well over a year of efforts by a group of Rochester residents, calling itself the Friends of Route 100, to stop the project. Spearheaded by Dean Mendell and Bill Gibson, who both are abutting landowners to the site of the planned quarry project, the group was represented by attorney and part-time Rochester resident Lou Helmuth.

"The Friends of Route 100 were interested in not having a crushing and blasting operation in what is really a residential neighborhood," Mendell told The Herald. "There are 17 families living within a quarter-mile of the quarry site, and that was a large issue for us. We didn’t have a problem with a gravel pit, where there was mainly excavation work going on, but we felt it was inappropriate to have a blasting operation there."

Mendell said that the Friends of Route 100 negotiated over several months, and "spent a considerable sum, that basically covered the costs expended by the Bowens and Kingsbury Construction to create the operation in a pit that was no longer active. A large number of people didn’t want to see this thing happen and many community members contributed small amounts to help."

He said it was his understanding that the applicant could not re-apply for a mineral extraction project at that site for a period of 10 years.

In addition to his worries about his neighborhood, Mendell said he and many others felt that businesses on Main Street in Rochester, including the restaurant he owns, The Village Porch, would be adversely affected if the quarry project was approved, due to the large increase in truck traffic.

"There were a lot of people who wanted to keep our town a quiet village, instead of a thoroughfare for tandem trucks," he said.