Haul Road Review Continues in Greenport

Last night, at the Greenport Planning Board, the review of the proposed haul road continued. It was revealed that the board is still working through comments submitted by David Clouser, the engineer now consulting with the Hudson Planning Board. Ed Stiffler, who chairs the Greenport Planning Board, asked about the dock and the decision of the Hudson Zoning Board of Appeals. In his response, P. J. Prendergast, engineer for Colarusso, revealed that Colarusso will be complying with the ZBA's decision, and with Hudson's zoning code, and will be presenting the changes made to the dock for review by the Hudson Planning Board.

Image: South Bay Coaltion

Prendergast went on to do his usual presentation of the changes to the dock, reiterating the opinion that the work done was replacement in kind, not requiring Planning Board review. He asserted that the changes to the dock had a visual impact only to Rick's Point, a section of riverfront park that he described as a parking lot. He also noted, somewhat petulantly, that the dirt parking lot produced dust, and fugitive dust was something people complained Colarusso's industrial activity in South Bay and the dock produced.

Stiffler requested that a copy of the application for the dock prepared for the Hudson Planning Board, as well as all documents, communication, and permits relating to the project, be submitted to the Greenport Planning Board. It is not clear if this means that the board has decided to expand the SEQRA consideration of the project to include the activity between the end of the haul road and the dock and at the dock, which is something the Hudson Planning Board was been urging.

Stiffler also noted, speaking of comments received from the public, that "people are of the opinion that traffic and activity at the dock would increase" with the proposed haul road. Prendergast alleged, as he has before, that "the whole project is about getting the trucks off city streets." The question was raised if Colarusso's mining permit imposed limitations on the intensification of mining activity, and it was indicated that it did. JR Heffner, vice president of operations for Colarusso, noted that mining permits had to be renewed every five years.
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