Title: OMYA, Inc. v. Town of Middlebury

State: vermont

Issuer: Vermont Supreme Court

Document:

OMYA, Inc. v. Town of Middlebury (99-282); 171 Vt. 532; 758 A.2d 777 

[Filed 25-Jul-2000]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                       SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 99-282

                              MARCH TERM, 2000

OMYA, Inc. and 	                       }	APPEALED FROM:
Foster Brothers Farm, Inc.	       }	
                                       }	
     v.	                               }	Environmental Board
                                       }	
Town of Middlebury, Town of Brandon,   }	
Town of Pittsford, Agency of           }
Transportation,	Agency of              }	DOCKET NO. 9AO107-2-EB
Commerce, Agency of Natural 	
Resources	

             In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       Plaintiff OMYA, Inc. appeals from a decision of the Vermont
  Environmental Board limiting  the number of trips OMYA trucks may complete
  through Brandon Village in a given day.   OMYA  contends that the trip
  limitation: (1) exceeds the jurisdiction and authority of the Board and 
  unlawfully invades the jurisdiction of the Vermont Agency of Transportation
  ("AOT"); (2) violates  OMYA's right to substantive due process under the
  Vermont Constitution and is not a proper  exercise of police power by the
  Board; (3) constitutes an improper attempt by the Board to impose a 
  moratorium on land use and development; and (4) violates equal protection
  under the Vermont  Constitution.  We affirm.

       OMYA extracts calcium carbonate from its quarry in Middlebury,
  Vermont, and transports it  through Brandon on U.S. Route 7 to its
  processing plant in the town of Pittsford, Vermont.  In 1981,  the District
  9 Environmental Commission granted OMYA a land-use permit in accordance
  with 10  V.S.A. § 6086 (Act 250) allowing up to 85 round trips through
  Brandon each day.  In 1997, OMYA  requested an increase in the allowable
  number of daily trips through Brandon to 170 round trips per  day.  In
  response, the District amended the permit to increase the allowed number of
  round trips to  113.  OMYA appealed to the Environmental Board. 

       Following extensive evidentiary hearings over five days, the Board
  denied OMYA's request  but expanded the permit slightly to allow a maximum
  of 115 daily trips through Brandon.  The Board  found that the requested
  increase in truck traffic through Brandon would create unreasonable 
  congestion under 10 V.S.A. § 6086(a)(5), and undue adverse effects on
  aesthetics and historic sites  under 10 V.S.A. § 6086(a)(8), but that these
  effects could be mitigated by 

 

  limiting the number of trips to 115 trips per day. (FN1)  As provided
  under 10 V.S.A. § 6087(b), the  license was issued subject to five
  conditions, including Condition 4, the truck trip limit. This appeal 
  addresses only Condition 4. 

       This Court gives deference to the Environmental Board's interpretation
  of Act 250, to its own  rules, and to the Board's specialized knowledge in
  the environmental field.  See In Re Wal*Mart  Stores, Inc., 167 Vt. 75, 79,