ACCORD � This past week, the long-awaited verdict in the case between Accord mining company, Mombaccus Excavating, Inc., and the Town of Rochester was handed down. To the satisfaction of Town Supervisor Carl Chipman and the Rochester Town Board, each of the charges lodged by Mombaccus, as petitioner in the case, was summarily dismissed. The decision, delivered by acting Ulster County Supreme Court Justice Michael H. Melkonian, ostensibly marks the end of a conflict years in the making.

The root cause of this onerous legal battle began in 2006, when the Town of Rochester created a "Comprehensive Plan" seeking to more equitably redraw zoning maps and laws within the district. The plan's stated goal was to seek to "establish a reasonable balance between the important goals of the community" � chiefly environmental, economic, and quality-of-life concerns � and "the rights of individual property owners." Under the administration of former Rochester Town Supervisor, Pamela Duke, a commission called the Town of Rochester Code Task Force was formed in order to review the current zoning laws and propose amendments. In 2007, the result of the work of the Code Task Force was codified into proposed Local Law #4.

After public hearings, and review from the Ulster County Planning Board (UCPB), that first attempt was ultimately not passed by the town. Of particular note, one of the by-products of the suggested changes at that time would have been the division of a 269 acre parcel, owned by Mombaccus, between two zoning districts. Almost two years later, new Supervisor Chipman's administration reinstated the Code Task Force, and began a fresh attempt at achieving a Comprehensive Plan that could be made into law.

The process was a difficult one, recalls Mr. Chipman.

"Trying to have new zoning laws can be a balancing act," says Chipman, "the only way to do it is have all opinions heard."

After more than a year of public review and research within the town, as well as input from the UCPB, the Rochester Town Board determined that the new attempt at Local Law #4 would both be a benefit to the town, and would not have a negative environmental impact. In September of 2009, the law was adopted.

One of the things that did not change, from 2007 to 2009, was that the zoning codes in Local Law #4 still enacted the split of the 269 acre Mombaccus land parcel into two zones. The effect was that part of that land would no longer have unlimited mining rights; only the portion of the property within the non-residential zone retained that freedom, outright. Mombaccus, which mines sand and gravel, is one of largest landowners in Rochester; throughout the long process leading up to the adoption, the company's considerable interests remained opposed to any restrictions being applied to their property. The lawsuit that followed alleged a range of ways in which, Mombaccus contended, the new law was both economically and environmentally unacceptable.

Of those allegations � all of which were refuted by the court � several were centered around the suggestion that the town had not acceptably complied with the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The charges ranged from a lack of consideration for low-income housing availability, to aquifer protection, to the suggestion that excavation restriction would unreasonably limit the town's access to road construction materials.

In Justice Melkonian's ruling, he states clearly that Rochester did, in fact, meet the necessary due diligence standards required in applying its decisions. The ruling maintains that the petitioner, Mombaccus, does not present sufficient evidence to prove that the laws are unfair to the town, or to the company itself.

Intimations that those newly imposed town restrictions interfered with the fair and profitable practice of mining within the town were likewise refuted by the decision. The new codes, says Judge Melkonian, do not unreasonably or maliciously prohibit Mombaccus from conducting its business; neither does it unlawfully interfere with State statutes, like the New York Mined Land Reclamation Law, the judgement concludes.

Mombaccus has 30 days, from the date of the ruling, to lodge an appeal if they so choose. Still, in hopes that the conflict has finally been put to rest, Supervisor Chipman makes it clear that he looks forward to getting things back to normal.

"We recognize that mining is an important economic part of this town," Chipman says, stating that Rochester will continue to conduct business with Mombaccus; the town, says Chipman, will accept bids from the hometown company for necessary highway department materials like crushed stone, as it has done in the past.

"That's how we need to do it around here," Chipman adds. "We have to continue to work together."