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Date: 6/6/2023
CUMMINGTON — The Zoning Board of Appeals granted a special permit to Matthew White to operate the stone quarry on the Goshen town line, located on Berkshire Trail, which was most recently run by T&J Stone Properties LLC.
“I received a phone call from the owner of my old quarry on Rt. 9 Cummington,” White wrote as part of his special permit application. “I was offered my old quarry back.”
White, who first opened the quarry for business about 15 years ago, was granted a permit to operate with a number of conditions, in addition to the relevant zoning bylaws. Hours of operation are limited to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rock crusher is limited to 30 days of operation per year.
Carla Ness, chair of the ZBA, said the April 10 hearing for the special permit was sparsely attended.
“He had hours [and] he had a limited time to use the rock crusher, because those are the noisiest things,” said Ness. “He has to notify abutters if he’s going to blast, but most of the time with these quarries they don’t actually blast. They have these pneumatic drills they use.”
White stated in his application that he would operate under the limits of the special permit granted to Jill Hazen, who ran the quarry as T&J Stone Properties. However, White requested and received from the ZBA an increase in the number of days a crusher can be used. White said crushers are usually rented for a week or two at a time, making the 20 day limit under the existing special permit too restrictive. He was granted an increase to 30 days of crusher use per year.
As a result, the ZBA will convene a public meeting in July 2024 to review whether the conditions are being met, are necessary, or need to be updated. An added condition for the special permit is that if quarry activities cease, within six months White must submit a closing plan that will detail how the property will be beautified for future generations to enjoy.
“The area has been opened up in a way that the quarrying, going forward, has a lot of space for staging and safety,” White wrote. “The quarry already has an established ‘rock face’ where the current owners have been operating. I will continue work on that rock ledge [face] and move forward for future extraction.”
Ness said that White, who could not be reached for comment, originally acquired the property from a relative. According to media reports, about 250 million tons of Goshen blue stone was discovered on the site, which White opened for extraction. The former professional baseball player said the work took a toll on his body and the business became economically difficult.
About 2014 White transferred ownership to Hazen, doing business as T&J Stone Properties. Since then, White established and built a masonry business “where I use Goshen stone regularly.”
“With the blessing of the town and neighbors I look forward to being part of the town again,” White wrote.
White anticipates business operations will resume this spring.