Crowd Attends Act 250
Hearing in Rochester
By Martha Slater

More than 70 Rochester residents crowded into the conference room at the Rochester Town office Tuesday morning, Feb. 13 for a District 3 Environmental Commission hearing on an Act 250 application for a proposed gravel pit south of town on Route 100.

A large part of Tuesday's hearing was devoted to hearing from abutting landowners and other area residents who applied for party status in the hearing. They were almost unanimous in their opposition to the project.

District 3 Environmental Commissioner Joshua Powers chaired the hearing, which ran from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.. It will be continued at a later date, which had not been set at press time.

Mark Bannon of Bannon Engineering in Randolph spoke representing the applicants, Mike Bowen of North Hollow Farms (the landowner) and Rochester Sand and Gravel LLC, headquartered at Kingsbury Construction Co. in Waitsfield. He noted that the proposed site was originally developed in 1950 and last worked 1992 and distributed a handout which included what was described as "supplemental information" for the Act 250 application.

Then residents seeking party status had an opportunity to present their case.

Dean Mendell, an abutting property owner, who also owns two buildings in Rochester village on Route 100, voiced concerns about air quality, waste disposal, storm water running onto his land, soil erosion, and noise levels. He also felt his well adjacent to the brook would be affected by runoff from the site, as would the water quality in Breakneck Brook.

Bill Gibson, another abutting landowner, noted that he walked and biked on Route 100 and thought hazards from increased traffic along that road would adversely affect that.

Kevin McLoughlin, who owns property directly across Route 100 from the proposed project, said he believed that his cement block building would not withstand vibrations from blasting and drilling. He also noted that there is no sight distance from the site driveway, which is located at the top of the pitch of a short hill. He said he felt the project doesn't conform to regional and local town plans, since the area is residential and agricultural, not industrial.

Tim Domas, who owns the Rochester Café, and Larry Plesent, who owns the Seasoned Bakery on Main St., both voiced their concerns about noise and increased truck traffic having an adverse effect on outdoor seating for customers at their establishments.

Doon Hynderyckx, owner of Green Mt. Bikes on Route 100 in Rochester, suggested that his business would be adversely affected by truck traffic, since he deals with bike tours up Route 100 that would have safety problems from increased truck traffic.

Bill Jacobowski of CVPS noted his company's concerns with its electrical transmission lines running across the site.

Many other folks who spoke voiced similar concerns, including worries about wells and home foundations, decreased property values, aesthetics and safety issues from traffic, particularly going by the school; critical wildlife habitat, preservation of the character of the town, etc.

Selectboard Comment

Danny McIntyre and Charlie Biederman of the Rochester Selectboard issued a written statement, which said, in part, "We want to encourage our local business people to expand, prosper, employ people and contribute to the town's economy. We realize that. If approved, the re-opening of the gravel pit may bring more traffic into our local businesses. Depending upon the type of product coming out of the pit, there could be a saving to the town and other local contractors for gravel and stone."

The statement went on to note that, "At the same time, we are concerned about the effect of an additional 40 truck trips through the center of our village. We have many essential buildings and properties on Route 100, including our schools, elderly housing, our much-used park and many local businesses. We also believe that that the environmental concerns of the immediate neighbors need to be addressed through the Act 250 process...and the project, if approved, should operate under the strictest environmental guidelines."

Biederman also pointed out that the applicant for the Act 250 permit had not applied for a permit from the town, although a change of use such as this requires a conditional use permit.

Jeff Sherwin of Kingsbury Construction said he wasn't discouraged by the opposition expressed at the hearing.

"We're going to continue to work on this and try to address everyone's concerns and see if it's a feasible project," he told The Herald.

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