Op-Ed: Big Yellow Trucks
Deerpark land deals by Councilman Art Trovei, assisted by other city officials, have plagued residents and may become more burdensome if new development and zoning changes are approved.
By David Ofshinsky
In her 1970 hit, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, Joni Mitchell intoned,
“Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone? They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.”
Released 55 years ago, it was partly a protest against an area of urban development in Hawaii. Some of the lyrics, however, could describe the current Quarry Management project in Deerpark on US Rt. 6.
“They paved paradise to put up a parking lot…”
A lush hillside was clear cut and a forty foot high fill embankment was compacted to provide a storage lot for Quarry Management’s materials, trucks and equipment. This area borders the property of Jon Miuta
For Miuta, the beauty of the spot is lost forever. He purchased 8.5 acres in Deerpark on Lime Kiln Rd. in February 2000. It was his little slice of paradise. Nicknamed the Ponderosa, it was an upstate getaway from his Garden City, Long Island home. Nestled below US Rt. 6 by a steep, wooded hillside, a brook flows into a small pond near his cozy cabin.
The steep wooded hillside is now an immense rockpile.
On the other end of the project an enormous mountain of soil and stone towers above US Rt. 6. It is close in height to the westbound lanes of I-84. This ‘mountain’ also appears to spill down onto a Lime Kiln Rd. property below.
“They took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum…”
No museum treatment here. Trees were indiscriminately chopped down, both on Quarry Management’s property and Miuta’s. The debris from the work was left scattered about.
Chunks of construction demolition rubble from the fill operation were also strewn around Muita’s property.
But the worst environmental impact was the reddish-orange, oily water that seeped onto Miuta’s property, turning part of it into a swamp.
In May 2023, heavy rain compromised the walls of a retention pond, possibly due to a poorly designed and/or installed drainage system. Water and debris flowed onto Miuta’s property.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) placed two stop work orders on the project. Representatives of Fusco Engineering, the contracted building inspector for Deerpark, visited the site, along with representatives of Fuller Engineering, Quarry Management’s design and supervising engineer.
This resulted in a cleanup of Muita’s property and some tree replacement. Work on erosion control and complete reconstruction of the retention pond was done on Quarry Management’s side.
Questions still remain about possible property line encroachments and/or improper property line setbacks between the two properties. A promised survey was never delivered.
“Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?”
Residents living adjacent to the project knew the impact of the project would be bad. But it’s likely they had no idea of how bad it would be.
Nearby residents either attended and spoke at the February 27, 2019 Public Hearing held by the Planning Board, or wrote letters expressing their concerns.
Rt. 6 residents Mary and John Hansen both spoke at the meeting and followed up with a letter expressing concerns about noise, traffic and the environmental impact of the project.
Angela and Jon Miuta wrote to voice their apprehension about the project. “Our beautiful property where we bring our four grandchildren will be destroyed.” They also expressed concern for the health and wellbeing of all the area residents due to the noise and dust the project would generate.
Lime Kiln Rd. residents Susan and Gerald DeMarco wrote that they worried about how it could impact their special needs grandchild who has respiratory issues. They said that they felt the project was being pushed through with no respect for residents. They questioned whether any Deerpark Board member would want to live in, move to, or allow this by their home? Imagine trying to sell your house.
The DeMarcos closed their letter with, “We hope and pray that Board members examine their conscience and vote no on the project.”
“Late last night, I heard the screen door slam.”
The residents of Lime Kiln Rd. wish it was only the sound of a slamming screen door that awakens them. Early morning grunts, clanks and roars of trucks and earth moving equipment shatter the silence. The noise continues all day and sometimes into the evening and Saturdays as well.
“And a big yellow taxi took away my old man….”
There’s no big yellow taxi in this story.
Just big yellow trucks. Lots of them.
To the dismay of drivers on Rt. 6, the trucks spew dust, dirt and gravel all over the road as they enter and exit the site.
A nearby motorcycle shop had to post spray painted signs to keep Quarry Management’s trucks from spilling gravel into its lot, a hazard to its customers.
In 2023, one of the trucks left its bed up and tore down the electrical wires to a residence on Rt. 6. It also damaged the house’s siding and some appliances inside. The homeowner has never been fully compensated for the thousands of dollars of damage.
Has Deerpark seen any benefit from Quarry Management’s presence?
Property taxes? Not really. According to the 2024 Tax Roll, the assessed value of the property has increased only by a mere $6,000, despite all the construction done on the site.
Jobs? Probably not. Quarry Management doesn’t appear to employ many people at the site. Headquartered in Lackawaxen, PA, it’s unclear if any of the workers are local residents.
Perhaps the only local benefit of the project went to Deerpark Councilmember Arthur Trovei.
As owner of the property, Trovei was a party to the Planning Board application for the project along with Quarry Management. Once Planning Board approval was obtained, he sold the property to Quarry Management in January 2020 for $840,000 more than he paid for it in December 2010. His attorney was Glen Plotsky, Esq., who was simultaneously representing the Town and Planning Board.
Some feel the presence of Trovei and Plotsky drove the Planning Board’s approval. They also believe it may be behind the Town’s foot dragging in responding to the problems.
Now Quarry Management is back before the Planning Board. They are seeking lot consolidation and zoning changes.
According to John Fuller, project engineer, Quarry Management wants to consolidate all the lots it now owns. They initially purchased two lots on US Rt. 6 from Trovei in 2020. Subsequently they have acquired 3 adjacent residential lots below on Lime Kiln Rd.
With all the lots as one parcel, they want its zoning to be IB, Interchange Business, the zoning for the Rt. 6 lots. Glen Plotsky, Esq., Planning Board Attorney, says the zoning change is automatic if the lot consolidation is approved.
Fuller said the lots on Lime Kiln Rd. would remain ‘residential’. However he noted that one is needed for the project to finalize the grading to stabilize the “significant amount of fill” that has been brought in.
Lime Kiln Rd. residents are not happy about the proposal. They view the zoning change as just a way to let Quarry Management not clean up the mess that’s been created.
Given the project’s history, they have little confidence that they are now being told the truth.
In November, 2018, the project was presented to the Planning Board as a transportation hub and place to stockpile materials. Some “small changes and some grading” would be needed, Fuller said at the time. Nothing was ever said about mountains of dirt and rock that now blight the neighborhood.
The new application gives the Planning Board the opportunity to stop the project’s cancerous crawl into the neighborhood below. Perhaps its members didn’t realize at first how bad the project would be. Now they know. Hopefully they’ll change their tune and do the right thing for the residents of Lime Kiln Rd.
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