Ansonia Rock-Crushing Lawsuit Is Settled

An image from the September Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

ANSONIA — A lawsuit filed by neighbors who opposed rock crushing at an industrial property on Riverside Drive has been settled, court filings show.

S. Westwood Road residents Andrew Mark, Leonard Marazzi and Christopher Rogers filed a lawsuit in Milford civil court dated Oct. 11, 2021 against the city’s planning and zoning commission and Burn Construction Company, the business that operates Burns Materials in a heavy industrial zone at 16 Riverside Drive.

The neighbors had complained about noise, dust and quality of life issues since Burns opened in Ansonia in 2019. The neighbors and their attorney repeatedly said rock-crushing was never spelled out as a permitted use in the city’s zoning code.

Mayor David Cassetti’s administration argued rock-crushing is OK, as long as the materials being crushed don’t originate on-site.

In September 2021, the city’s planning and zoning commission voted to add rock crushing” to the city’s zoning regulations with parameters, including how many machines could be used and for how many hours per day.

The neighbors’ lawsuit was an appeal of the city’s P&Z decision. The hope was that a court would side with the neighbors.

However, the neighbors in the case filed paperwork July 15 saying they had worked out a deal with the defendants (the city and Burns).

The court document cites the expenses and uncertainty involved in litigation as reasons for the settlement.

The settlement spells out many of the conditions the city put on the property when rock crushing” was added to the city’s zoning regulations.

According to the settlement:

* Within the next two months, Burns must obtain a special permit from the City of Ansonia to operate its rock-crushers 

* No more than two rock-crushers can be operated on the 46-acre property

* Burns will plant trees to buffer the machines from neighbors

* Burns will pay $15,000 to go toward the plaintiff’s legal fees* None of the parties in the lawsuit admits that any claim, defense or fact alleged in the appeal(s) is true or correct”

The Valley Indy reached out Wednesday morning to the plaintiff’s and defendant’s lawyers but but did not hear back.

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