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Tilcon Recently Donated Historic Storms Tavern But Many Are Asking What The Mine Wants In Return
By Tina Traster
After two decades of owning and renting out the historic 1765 “Storms Tavern” house at 407 Storms Road in Valley Cottage, Tilcon Minerals Inc. recently donated the house to the Town of Clarkstown.
But many have been wondering what Tilcon would like in return for donating the pre-Revolutionary yellow house with a storied past. After all, the house, despite its severely degraded condition, could have been sold on the open market for more than $600,000, according to Zillow. The sale would have had no strings because no restrictive covenant had been placed on the house to protect it when it was sold in 2005 by the De Lima Greene family.
Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann says the donation was a one-way transaction, but many believe Tilcon may be seeking permits down the road to expand its mining operations in West Nyack. What points to that possibility is that the nearly dozen houses Tilcon owns on Casper Hill and Crusher Roads have been vacant and are deteriorating.
“Tilcon has not asked, and we are not offering to sell Casper Hill Road,” said Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann. The Supervisor said Tilcon has not approached the administration to negotiate a road or land purchase.
When asked specifically what it plans to do with the houses and whether it has any plans to expand, a Tilcon spokesperson said, “While we continuously review our property management for all premises owned and operated by Tilcon New York, at this time, we do not have any specific plans for those properties for the foreseeable future.”
But sources inside the Town of Clarkstown say the mining company needs to purchase Casper Hill Road from the town to expand its facility to the edge of Route 303. What makes the presumption seem possible is that Tilcon has allowed all but one of the many houses it owns on Casper Hill Road to remain empty and fall into disrepair over the past few years. The houses, many built in the early 20th century, were purchased by Tilcon’s predecessor New York Trap Rock Co. in the late 1990s. Tilcon rented the homes to employees for decades, but they now sit vacant.
Tilcon New York Inc. is located at 1 Crusher Road in West Nyack and has been trap rock quarrying since 1981. The open pit mine sits on 165 acres bounded by Snake Hill Road, Crusher Road, and Casper Hill Road. The company has multiple New York and New Jersey operations including quarries, asphalt plants, recycling plants, water terminals and a heavy highway construction division. Tilcon is part of the Oldcastle Materials Group.
At the Storms Tavern donation ceremony two weeks ago, RCBJ asked Tilcon’s Vice President of Finance Graig Aimone why more than a half dozen houses the company owns on Casper Hill Road have been empty for more than a year, and does Tilcon plan to raze them? Aimone referred RCBJ to the company spokesman, who said that Tilcon was there to celebrate the donation.
The town code says homes must be structurally sound, protected from moisture and vermin, and have functioning plumbing, electrical, and heating systems. Owners are responsible for maintaining the overall structure, including foundations, and ensuring all utilities are safe and operable, while also managing garbage, refuse, and insect control.
Sources say Tilcon has been unsuccessful in trying to expand its operations in the Town of Haverstraw and might think it has a better chance of procuring its future in Clarkstown. Tilcon recently rejoined the Rockland Business Association.
The land between the existing Tilcon mine and Route 303, including Casper Hill Road is zoned “M” (Manufacturing), which allows gravel pits, quarries and stone crushers via a special permit issued by the Town Board. There are multiple restrictions on the use, including proximity to residential districts, hours of operation, and restrictions on operating on Sundays and legal holidays. A plan for post-mining rehabilitation would have to be submitted and approved, and a performance bond posted to guarantee site rehabilitation after mining ceases.
The Special Permit runs five years and is subject to renewal.
The applicant must also submit the town’s special permit to the New York State DEC for a Mined Land Reclamation Permit, which has its own requirements, including an environmental review and an opportunity for public input.
Permissive Referendum — Roughly 800 Signatures Would Be Needed
If Clarkstown were to try and negotiate a sale of Casper Hill Road, the town board must pass a resolution authorizing the sale. The town clerk is then required to publish and post a notice of the adopted resolution authorizing the sale within ten days, informing the public that the sale of the property is subject to a permissive referendum.
The permissive referendum enables voters to reject the sale of town-owned land with a majority vote of qualified voters, despite the resolution authorizing the sale.
There are two means of triggering a permissive referendum. First the town can initiate a permissive referendum on its own motion. Or voters can gather signatures totaling at least 5 percent of the total votes cast town-wide for Governor in the last general election and force a referendum. A permissive referendum in Clarkstown would require roughly 800 signatures.
Voters in the town have a period (usually 30 days after the adoption of the resolution) to file a petition with the town clerk. The pending referendum effectively stops the sale until a majority of the voters approve the sale. If no petition is filed, the sale can move forward in accordance with the Board’s original resolution.
Residents in the vicinity of the mine, on Crusher and Casper Hill roads, in the Kings Highway and Storms Road neighborhoods, live with a barrage of noise, dust, and the daily tremors caused by the mine’s crushing operation. Even residents across Route 303 on Mountainview Avenue and Christian Herald Road are impacted by the mining operation’s environmental hazards.
In 2006, when Tilcon’s mining permit was up for renewal, angry Clarkstown residents filled a town hall meeting to tell stories about what it’s like to live with the dust, noise, and the daily earth-rumbling blasting that cracks the foundations of houses, leaves a layer of dust on cars every morning, and prevents people from using their backyards. Tilcon’s permit was renewed but the company undertook a $40 million plan to update its operation. By locating its crushing operations 70 feet below the ground and installing sound-dampening equipment, the operation promised to reduce noise.
It’s unclear whether the town and mine have kept up with their agreement to conduct twice-annual noise studies.
During the donation ceremony, Aimone said the Storms Tavern was on the company’s radar for the better part of a year, and the company was looking for a way to “breathe life into the house, which will be used for public purposes.”
Indeed, the donation presents an opportunity to preserve an important pre-Revolutionary structure ,but if Tilcon expanded its operation along Casper Hill Road, it will defeat the whole purpose of the donation because the Storms Tavern sits right on the corner of Casper Hill Road and Storms Road.
