BLOOMINGBERG, NY — A letter from a law firm to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) accuses the former supervisor of the Town of Mamakating and a property owner in the town of violating zoning law in the establishment and operation of a sand and gravel mine.

According to the letter sent from the office of Jacobowitz and Gubits, the mining operation began in 2003 or 2004 on a property on Winterton Road, south of Bloomingberg. The letter says that after the mining operation began, the owner, “Philip Reinhardt, in conjunction with Duane B. Roe Jr. [the former supervisor], applied to the DEC for a permit under the New York State Mined Land Reclamation Law.”

The problem is that the property is located in a neighborhood residential district, where mining is prohibited. To get around that, the owners requested an interpretation of the zoning law saying that the owner would be allowed to remove sand and gravel from the property for the purpose of creating a barn and expanding the tillable land. But instead of going to the zoning board of appeals for the interpretation, which is required by law, the owner went to the town board, which passed a resolution allowing ““excavation in aid of agricultural activities.”

In New York State, town boards do not have the authority to interpret zoning codes. Town boards do have the ability to change zoning codes through the adoption of a local law, but that was not done in this case.

In any case, because of the resolution from the town board, DEC issued a permit to allow mining. But the letter from attorney John C. Cappello says, “There is no evidence that the property has been used for farming activities,” and further, the letter says that the applicants later applied for a 27- and later a 17-lot subdivision.

In December 2014, the applicant applied to the DEC to expand the mine, saying the extraction activity would be to remove sand and gravel to allow for the establishment of the 17-lot subdivision. But the subdivision approval was granted in 2010, and expired 180 days later and an extension was never applied for. Further, there is a moratorium on most subdivisions in the town.

Cappello asks the DEC to postpone a decision on the mining permit until the DEC has time to review the various claims raised by the town planning board.

Roe is a developer who was a key representative for developer Shalom Lamm, who is in the process of building the controversial 400-unit development in the Village of Bloomingberg. In 2006 Roe told village officials the development would be for 125 “upscale” homes in a gated-community, not 400 townhouses. Roe and Lamm parted company in 2010, and Lamm sued Roe for $10 million.