The Boston Globe

= The Boston Globe=

August 6, 2003, Wednesday ,THIRD EDITION<= o:p>

GRAVEL FIRM PITTED AGAINST NEIGHBORS<= /span>

BYLINE: By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. B1

LENGTH: 887 words

BOURNE - The rr temperature is in the 80s this day, but Alice Bedugnis refuses to crack open her windows or sit on the back porch to catch the breeze from Buzzards Bay. Her screens, doorways, cars, and patio furniture are cove= red with a fine dust that she blames on a nearby sand and gravel pit. Her veget= able gardens have wilted, and her patience is spent.

"I am so disgusted and so angry," Bedugnis said. "It's just not worth bein= g outside anymore."

Bedugnis and her husband are leading a campaign to shut down Cape Cod Aggregates, the business that she says has drastically escalated= its operations over the past several years and transformed more than 100 wooded acres into a giant dust bowl.

The company is located off Route 6, also known as the Scenic Highway, in a residential di= strict designated as an area of critical planning concern. Since 1959, all major e= arth removal operations have been prohibited in Bourne without a special permit,= but Cape Cod Aggregrates maintains that it is not subject to any zoning restrictions because a sand and gravel pit existed on the premises before t= he bylaws were instituted.

During a series= of hearings before the Zoning Board of Appeals over the past few months, Bourne residents have accused Cape Cod Aggregates= of violating a town ordinance that requires that a land owner get permissio= n before cutting down more than 10,000 square feet of trees. Residents also contend = that the firm has turned a pit no larger than a football field into a moonscape = the size of several stadiums.

In 1994, the Bedugnises had a roughly 600-foot strip of trees that buffered their home f= rom the gravel operation, according to their appeal before the Zoning Board. To= day, the back deck of their Heather Hill home is less than 75 feet from the boun= dary line, and the company has plans to expand other areas of the pit.

Lawyers for = Cape Cod Aggregates, which has also batt= led homeowners near its other operations in West Roxbury and Braintree, say they continue to make efforts to address residents' concerns and have outlined a restoration plan to be used when the mining of sand and gravel is completed= in another seven to 10 years, according to lawyer Diane Tillotson.<= /span>

Already, about = 110 of the 126 acres have been cleared for mining, and an additional 10 acres are slated for excavation by Cape Cod Aggregat= es, which is principally owned by S.M. Lorusso and Sons. The company uses the s= and and gravel as raw material for asphalt and concrete.

"Although = we've tried to minimize the impacts [of the dust and noise] to some extent, people are going to complain, " Tillotson said. "Some complain more than others."

She said the co= mpany uses a water truck to dampen ground and prevent dust from swirling around a= nd has switched some of its stone-crushing equipment to reduce the noise and vibration.

Earlier this ye= ar, the Bedugnises wrote a letter detailing numerous complaints to the town's building inspector, Roger Laporte. He responded in a March 31 letter, saying that the sand and gravel pit was operating legally and that dust and noise levels "are within permissible limits."

The couple prom= ptly filed an appeal, and in recent weeks other residents have joined their effo= rts to persuade the Zoning Board of Appeals, which could rule as early as today= , to close the existing operation in Bourne.

In Bourne, loud crushing sounds, dust, and vibration that some residents say have shaken th= em out of bed are among the chief complaints. One family has moved out, others= say they regret purchasing their houses, and nearly everyone keeps their windows shut in the dead of summer.

"We used to refer to our home as a sleepy hollow area," said Melvin Bell, who moved earlier this year from a house next to the Bedugnis family. "When <= span style=3D'color:#CC0033'>Cape Cod Aggregates decided to expand a = few years ago . . . we'd hear big trucks early in the morning, disturbing our s= leep at 4 a.m."

Officials from = the Cape Cod Commission said they are aware of neighbors' concerns and are wait= ing until the Zoning Board rules. Dorr Fox, the commission's chief regulatory officer, said it is not clear whether his agency has jurisdiction.

Tillotson conte= nded that Cape Cod Aggregates is all= owed to modernize and reasonably expand because its present use reflects the nat= ure and character of the business before zoning laws changed. Although more equipment has been operating at the site over the past several years, she described it as "not significantly different," a characterization that neighbors adamantly reject.

In April, the B= oard of Health reported noise violations at Cape Cod Aggregates. The company has since hired= a consultant to address the issue, and the town said it will follow up later = this month.

Before purchasi= ng his house in Bournedale, Charles Salsberg said he sought assurances from town officials and residents that the gravel pit would not expand in his directi= on. "I consider myself a careful shopper," Salsberg said.<= /span>

When he saw a s= take in the ground just 100 feet from his house a few weeks ago, Salsberg decide= to spearhead a petition to support the Bedugnis's appeal.

"I never w= ould have bought my house, had I known," Salsberg said. "What's the po= int of zoning if the land behind you is a huge sand pit?"

Jenn Abelson ca= n be reached at abelson@globe.com.

LOAD-DATE: August 7, 2003

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Robert and Alice Bedugnis sh= owed the dust that has accumulated on a windowsill of their house in Bourne. / G= LOBE STAFF PHOTO / JOHN TLUMACKI