The plaintiff wants to open a sand mining operation in Gloucester County.
FRANKLIN TWP. -- An ordinance that would ban new mining operations in the township is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a company that hopes to open a sand-mining facilty in the municipality.
Township committee recently introduced an ordinance that bans "resource extraction operations" throughout the municipality. Existing businesses are allowed to continue under the measure.
Officials cited health and environmental concerns in the language of the ordinance.
"Township Committee has recognized that there are serious environmental concerns with regard to resource extraction, such as noise, dust, and health and safety concerns for children and young adults (created by the attractive nuisance that results from extraction activities), which jeopardizes public health, safety and welfare of the lands of all citizens in Franklin Township," according to the ordinance.
Main Road Materials LLC wants to establish a sand-mining facility on a property that consists of nearly 144 forested acres at Main-Marshall Mill Road and Tuckahoe Road.
The company contends that the ordinance was crafted specifically to prevent Main Road's project from moving forward.
Main Road Materials filed a site plan application and soil removal permit with the planning board in February.
In March, the planning board engineer ruled the application "complete for public hearing," according to the lawsuit.
Days before the scheduled April 19 public hearing before the planning board, "... the plaintiff found out through third parties that the ... Township of Franklin was attempting to prohibit all mining and/or resource extractions from the Township of Franklin."
During an April 12 township committee meeting when the issue of mining was discussed, the materials company cited a comment by an elected official and planning board member who, according to the meeting minutes, said "he does't like them either," when referring to mines.
At its April 19 meeting, the planning board dismissed Main Road's application without a public hearing and referred it to the township zoning board. The planning board determined that soil mining and/or extraction was not permitted anywhere in the township and that the applicant needed to seek a use variance from the zoning board.
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The lawsuit, filed by attorney Charles Fiore, names the Franklin planning board and township committee as defendants.
The planning board's denial was "arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious," according to the suit, and the plaintiff wants:
- the application returned to the planning board for a hearing;
- a ruling that the application is complete, as determined by the planning board engineer in March;
- its application grandfathered in and not subject to the new ordinance;
- the township restrained from taking action to adopt the proposed ordinance.
The resource extraction ordinance was originally slated for adoption in May, but was voted down because of concerns that the language of the law needed to be more specific, township officials said. The township planning board will review a new version of the ordinance in June and if it recommends adoption the township committee could act on July 12.
The ordinance that the lawsuit references was voted down on May 10 and the current one introduced on May 24, township solicitor John Eastlack noted.
The goal of the new ordinance, he said, is to memorialize the township's laws on mining operations and was not crafted because of any particular application.
"The township, simply by way of the new ordinance, is seeking to reaffirm the already existing situation in Franklin Township, which is that sand mines are not a permitted use in any zone," Eastlack said.
Efforts to reach Main Road Materials representatives were unsuccessful.
Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.