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Gravel pit neighbors = speak out
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Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA)-July 17, 2003
Author: KEVIN DENNEHY

BOURNE - Neighbors of the Cape Cod Aggregates sa= nd and gravel pit, located off Scenic Highway, say you have to live near the business to appreciate how much it has grown.

You have to hear the grinding trucks that seem to get closer to their yards each year, and see how gusts of dirt cover patio furniture each morning.

But attorneys for the company insist it's all le= gal.

The operation has grown substantially since sand= and gravel were first mined at the site nearly 50 years ago. And they concede it wouldn't be allowed if they sought a permit today.

Since it has been around since 1957 - before zon= ing would have forbidden it - the company is protected by "grandfathered&q= uot; rights.

A growing number of neighbors are calling on the town to shut down the operation, saying it is damaging property values, and= may be a health threat.

At a hearing last night, the zoning board of app= eals continued to wrestle with the meaning of "reasonable expansion" a= nd heard from people who remember the pit back in 1957.

At the Times' deadline, testimony was still being heard.

Lewis Perry, who lives on Bournedale Road, said he remembers walking through the pit to chop fire wood in the late 195= 0s. Back then the trucks mined an area the size of a football field, he said.
But in the last two years, he said, Cape Cod Aggregates has mined more than its predecessors had in the four previous decades combined.

"You could put six stadiums in there now,&q= uot; he said.

Since 1957, the 126-acre property has been used = for sand, stone and gravel to varying degrees depending on the economy, accordi= ng to Cape Cod Aggregates.

Lorusso and Sons Inc= ., one of the state's top gravel producers, bought the property in 1995 and continues to mine and crush stone.

They insist such uses are allowed because the property has been used for mining since before strict zoning.

And the number of trucks and amount of material removed hasn't changed much, said Diane Tillotson, attorney for Cape Cod Aggregates. While 1,200 to 1,500 tons were removed on peak days in the late 1950s, about 2,000 tons are removed daily now.

Although more than 100 acres has been mined, she said it is a logical expansion.

Robert Bedugnis disa= grees. The Bournedale man and his wife, Alice, have li= ved across from the gravel pit's western edge since the 1980s. They say the expansion has made their lives intolerable.

Earlier this year, they asked the town to shut t= he business down.

This week, several other neighbors submitted a petition asking the zoning board of appeals to do the same.

The Bedugnises' atto= rney, Gerald Blair, said last night that the use of the Cape Cod Aggregates prope= rty has increased so much that it is no longer legal. "Grandfathered" rights, he said, simply don't apply.

Record Number: 0FC5AC33631E6155