Tiverton residents took on a crematorium, now they have a new foe. Are the town's hands tied?
TIVERTON – After their first success fighting against a proposed crematorium on Main Road, Tiverton residents are sharpening their swords for a battle against a new enemy.
The Highland Ridge Granite Quarry at 536 Highland Road in Tiverton sits in a residential zone now, and the residents opposed to the granite quarry argue it's operating illegally under the town’s ordinances. However, the quarry company’s legal team argues the use of the property as a granite quarry was established by the permit the original owner obtained in the 1970s, before the current zoning was created, and should therefore be grandfathered in and legally allowed to run. The current owner, Little Compton realtor Tom Chance, purchased the property in 2016 and is currently selling the property as a commercial “quarry and aggregate producing operation with expansion capabilities” for $9.95 million.
The town sent the quarry company five cease-and-desist orders for everything from removing earth and quarrying without a permit to lacking a special use permit, to not owning a retail or storage display area in Tiverton.
While the resident backlash against the quarry has not been as significant as it was against the crematorium, the “Stop the Quarry” movement already has a Facebook page with 61 members, a website and a GoFundMe, which has raised nearly $5,000 in funds for lawyers and advertising when this article was written.
On the Facebook page, on the website and at a previous Town Council meeting in February, residents complained mainly about the excessive noise created by the extraction and processing done at the quarry since at least the early fall of 2022.
At the June 7 Zoning Board of Review meeting, dozens of residents showed up to Tiverton High School, several of whom planned to speak on the quarry’s impact on their daily lives, but none of them would be heard that night. The meeting ran late, concluding with a vote to continue the public hearing on June 22 at 7 p.m.
Citing the current litigation on the Superior Court’s docket, the attorney representing Highland Ridge Farm LLC, Joshua Parks, argued the Zoning Board of Review did not have the authority or jurisdiction to rule whether the quarry’s permit from 1974 is null and void.
Tiverton battles: Following outrage over Tiverton crematorium proposal, Town Council considers a ban
While the Board Chair Lise Gescheidt confirmed early on in the hearing she agreed the Zoning Board lacked jurisdiction on that matter, she said the Zoning Board does have the authority to determine whether the town is allowed to issue cease and desist letters on previously existing non-conforming uses of a property, which is what will be argued for the rest of the hearing. In 2022, the Zoning Board voted in Highland Ridge Farm LLC’s favor regarding a cease-and-desist sent by the town official regarding the tree removal happening at that property.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Highland Ridge Granite Quarry operations opposed by Tiverton residents
