Staff Writer

With three four-hour-plus sessions into deliberations on Shaw Brothers’ proposal for a quarry off Mosher Road, and at least one more to go, the Gorham Planning Board has crafted at least 40 conditions of approval for the site with the potential for adding more.

Shaw Brothers, which is based in Gorham, has proposed an asphalt plant and quarry on a 115-acre parcel off Mosher Road at the location of the former Lachance Brick Factory.

The board has yet to consider a blasting permit for the quarry or an asphalt plant to be located adjacent to the quarry. Discussions on those two topics will take place after final conditions of approval on the quarry have been set and the quarry project has been voted on, said Planning Director Deborah Fossum.

The hearings are expected to continue – and possibly conclude – Monday.

It is not unusual for complex projects such as quarry development – or Shaw Brothers’ previous development of an “H-pit” – to have a high number of conditions set upon their approval by the planning board, according to Fossum. 

“The nature of the activities at these types of locations tend to include a variety of issues which attract special attention from the board,” Fossum said. 

Conditions of approval are requested by the board when they wish to clarify how a certain aspect of a proposal will be regulated. Specifically, Fossum said, this occurs when the board finds an issue which they feel is not fully or adequately addressed by existing ordinances.

“The board has to address a number of specifics about these types of projects to make it as clear as possible about defining what is required of the applicant,” Fossum said. “The more specific they are, the better, and it really becomes helpful for everyone. We don’t want the rules to be vague.”

The estimated lifespan of the project has also given rise to complexity in the approval process, Fossum said.

“It’s a fairly complicated project to begin with, with two different aspects to it in the forms of the quarry and plant,” Fossum said. “But the fact that it also has a long life to it – it’s going to be out there 50 years or so, it’s a big project for people to understand and the board wants to make sure they’re covering everything.”

The application to develop the quarry has been thorough, Fossum said.

“The board has found the applicant has met most of the submission requirements,” Fossum said. “So far, the board has found the provided information demonstrates Shaw Brothers can comply with the town’s standards.”

 Since public comment was closed in a meeting two weeks ago, residents have been unable to give any input to the board during its deliberations. This has angered resident Jennifer Everett, who lives nearby the proposed site and is a member of Concerned Citizens of Gorham, 

“I’m really disappointed I haven’t been allowed to speak,” Everett said. “The board does have the authority to open public comment at any time, and they can also ask questions of us [neighbors]. I have even submitted a letter to the board requesting we be allowed to speak. I feel we have a lot to add to the conversation. We’ve put a lot of work into knowing all about this application and its potential problems.”

Accepting public comment would help the board in crafting conditions of approval which better address the issues of the plant which are of concern to neighbors, Everett said. 

“They have been making concessions and exceptions to the code for Shaw Brothers, but never to the neighbors,” Everett said.

So far in the hearings, Everett said the decision not to require Shaw Brothers to dig a third well to triangulate the measurement of groundwater level at the site particularly angered her.

“There is a requirement that Shaw Brothers must show where the groundwater level is, and that requires three wells to measure,” Everett said. “Because they can’t prove where the water is, they haven’t fulfilled the requirement that this project won’t affect the groundwater of the surrounding property.”

Shaw Brothers co-owner Danny Shaw said at a previous planning board meeting that State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) standards are dictating the drilling of the wells and that the project has received approval from the DEP. Shaw said he has a plan to build a third well and triangulate, but DEP regulations forbid him from developing a road to where the well needs to be placed – which Shaw says is necessary for digging the well – until the project has received final approval. Shaw said he would not come within 10 feet of the water table until the second phase of the project – which will not occur until after a triangulation has been created. 

The board’s decision not to create a condition of approval regarding air quality monitoring also frustrated Everett.

“It’s a major concern of mine because the air emissions license that comes with the asphalt plant doesn’t give us any proof that we’re not going to be breathing anything dangerous,” Everett said. “I want to be confident that neighbors are safe – that we’re not going to be breathing contaminated air.”

Shaw has said air quality will not be adversely affected by the quarry and plant and that air quality testing would prohibitively expensive.

“It’s very clear that there is no ordinance which requires us to test air quality,” Shaw said. “I have no concern this will affect air quality in the area, and I believe approval of the project by the DEP and the Environmental Protection Agency is satisfactory to show this project won’t affect air quality.”

Everett said the problems which have arisen throughout the 19 months of hearings on the project are the result of oversight by the town council.

“I have nothing against Danny Shaw or his company. He’s just trying to make his business better,” Everett said. “Really, the problem lies with the town council. It failed the town because it hasn’t kept up with zoning, and as a result we have a big industrial parcel surrounded by residences. The conflict between Shaw Brothers and the residents nearby the project is a result of this. The fact that the proposal doesn’t meet the requirements because of the residential areas surrounding the industrial site is no fault of Danny Shaw.”

Fossum said while most of the measures regarding the quarry have already been addressed individually, it is possible for the planning board to readdress issues discussed at prior meetings. However, Fossum said this possibility was unlikely.

“They can still change individual language in the conditions of approval,” Fossum said. But the board has been deliberate and tried to be thorough and fully discuss issues when they first came before them, and I doubt they will do so,” Fossum said.

Fossum said she expected the board to complete its review of the quarry application and vote on the project, with conditions of approval attached, at its meeting beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 31.