Rebecca Macijowsky can’t stand to be in her home when the local quarry is operational.
“It sounds like somebody is trying to break my front door down,” the 73-year-old told the Clinton Township Board of Supervisors on Nov. 6.
Wednesday night’s meeting was the third day of hearings for a conditional-use permit to continue blasting operations and mineral extraction on two acres of a 110-acre quarry at 109 Bunker Hill Road.
The Mazzone Falls Quarry is 400 feet away from the closest of 60 homes on Bunker Hill Road and Concord Avenue that are impacted by the noise, according to the board. Residents in Clinton Township, Wyoming County, say owner Frank Mazzone runs heavy machinery from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. nearly every day. They started hearing the jackhammers in February.
Mazzone and his lawyer, Edwin Abrahamsen, Jr. from ACA Law, declined to comment.
Macijowsky has lived on Concord Avenue for two decades, she said. The quarry first opened in 2010, but she and her late husband could only hear the quarry from afar when they would walk to a nearby pond. Now, she said the noise from inside her home is “maddening.”
“I’m the only one there in the house. I'm a widow, and I have no place else to turn to but to get out of the development. And I shouldn't be driven out of my home,” she said.
The board held Wednesday’s meeting after residents asked to bring their own noise pollution experts to the hearing. Mazzone and his lawyer made their argument during the first meeting and residents began their arguments during the second.
Jamie Dench, a certified general appraiser, reviewed one of the properties in the Bunker Hill neighborhood and concluded that if the quarry resumes blasting operations, it could lower surrounding property values by 15%.
“If it's so loud that nobody could take it, then it's going to be more than a 15% decrease. But, I mean, the only way it wouldn't have a decrease is if the property owner can't hear it at all,” said Dench.
Dench clarified that while he appraised the home, the quarry was not in operation, so he did not hear any noise. But he added that his research only accounts for successful house sales, so the effect on homeowners could be greater than 15% of house value.
“A lot of these places just have a stigma, and people just don't want to live by them. And whether they're operating under every regulation in the world, some people just will not buy houses by them. And that hurts your buyer pool,” said Dench.
Supervisors declined to comment on the quarry.
The Clinton Township Board of Supervisors plans to meet next week on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. at the municipal office, 155 Creek Road, Factoryville, to render its final decision.
