December 12, 2002

Region: A group of local residents and CLEAN staff traveled to Trenton in December to fight a newe "stealth" quarry bill. The bill, A2699, and its Senate counterpart S2106 would allow non-conforming uses (businesses in place before local zoning laws restricted them from the area) to expand their use, intensity and output as long as they did not expand their buildings. For nearly 200 quarries in the state of New Jersey, this would mean the opportunity to operate on a 24-hour basis without allowing local municipalities to regulate their activity.

This bill is especiallly troubling in light of the fact that sponsors hid its intent by cloaking it in the non-conforming use priniciples of municipal land use law, a back-door approach to quarry expansion. Previous quarry bills typically included language that identified the bill as benefiting quarry or mining interests.

During a hearing before a Senate committee, testimony by Ringwood resident and long-time quarry activist Ann Benedetto prompted one of the bill's sponsors, Senator Robert Singer, to state that he would exempt quarries from the bill. Ms. Benedetto wisely demanded that the offer be put in writing. But moments later in a dramatic reversal, Singer returned to the hearing room to state this his co-sponsor would now allow quarries to be removed, confirming everyone's suspicion that the bill was designed with quarries in mind. Shortly thereafter, the committee released the bill without recommendation, allowing the full senate an opportunity to vote on it in a future session, but without mandating senate members vote for the measure.

The group, joined by Ringwood Borough officials Allan Van Eck, Richard Clemack and Walt Davison, stayed to urge Assembly members to oppose the bill which was scheduled for a vote later that day. Asm. Paul Sarlo, the Assembly sponsor with ties to the quarry industry, was unable to garner the votes needed for approval and pulled the bill from the floor at the last minute. The bill will likely reappear in coming months, and CLEAN will be there to fight it.