The Town of Marshall Zoning Board of Appeals has scheduled a hearing about an application for mining in the town.
The hearing will be at Marshall Town Hall Thursday, June 4 beginning at 6 p.m. ZBA Chairman Maryanne Marsh said everyone attending must wear a mask and follow the social distancing steps outlined. There will also be an option for remote participation.
The hearing regards the application by Eric Schachtler for a Special Use Permit to have a quarry on his Shanley Road property. The process for the SUP has been on hold during the restrictions in place from the coronavirus.
The town board put a moratorium on private mining in place before the restrictions, but it ran out. Plans to extend the moratorium for six months was planned for a board meeting, but the town board has not met since March.
To halt mining until the moratorium could be extended, the town issued a Stop Work order for Schachtler. Schachtler appealed the stoppage and until his appeal can be heard by the ZBA, the Stop Work order is not in place.
That created a situation last week when Schachtler, allowed to mine on his property, did blasting in the quarry. Many neighbors complained about feeling the blast and being upset that Schachtler used the Covid-19 limitations to challenge the town’s Stop Work order.
Marsh said the hearing will help sort out what will be allowed and not allowed on Schachtler’s property. “It’s turned into neighbor vs. neighbor and that’s a sad situation,’’ she said.
“We’re hoping we can find a solution that brings everybody together and solves this in a way everyone can live with.’’