The Windham Town Council is poised to send a petitioned change to the town’s “mineral extraction” ordinance out to public vote at November’s gubernatorial election.
The new ordinance would require stricter regulation of gravel pit and quarry operations in town.
Nash Road neighbors petitioned for the ordinance change in response to a proposed 75-acre quarry on the corner of Nash Road and Route 302 that has been given approval by the Windham Planning Board.
Quarry developer Peter Busque argues that the ordinance would make the long-term quarry no longer worthwhile, and fellow gravel pit and quarry owners are upset by language in the ordinance that they believe would negatively affect their business, such as 1,000-foot buffers and a mandatory reapplication for approval every five years.
Both the neighbors and gravel pits owners gave their opinion on the petitioned ordinance at a recent public hearing, Aug. 8.
At Tuesday night’s council workshop, councilors mentioned that both the old ordinance and proposed ordinance appeared to be flawed.
“The old ordinance needs work and the proposed ordinance needs work,” Councilor Carol Waig said.
Waig suggested that the council sit down with both parties and Chief Code Enforcement Officer Roger Timmons to find a solution that would work for everyone.
Councilors however debated whether working to change the petitioned ordinance could influence a public vote on the matter.
“It’s a citizens initiative,” Councilor Robert Muir said. “It needs to voted on as it is and then, if they vote for it, we go from there.”
Councilor David Tobin warned against amending the ordinance if the public votes it in. If the public votes for the ordinance change, then the seven councilors could rule to amend it. But, Tobin said, it would not be wise to “buck the public.”
Updating old ordinances is now a chief priority for the town and has led to the formation of the PRIORITY task force, a group of town officials and volunteers working to come up with a process to revise outdated ordinances.
As the council prepares to send the petitioned ordinance to public vote, the council has begun reviewing Busque’s quarry for final approval.
At Tuesday’s workshop, Councilor Elizabeth Wisecup pointed out a previous “erroneous” statement printed in this paper: that the quarry review must be voted on by the council before the public votes on the ordinance change. This statement is incorrect.
Town attorney Ken Cole said that, while the council cannot intentionally stall the quarry review to wait for a public vote on the ordinance change, there is no legal order in which the votes must take place.
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