WESTBROOK — Proposed changes to the city’s manufacturing district that would affect Pike Industries’ Spring Street quarry could reopen a debate about the company’s operations there.

The Planning Board on Tuesday will consider the amendments, which are being proposed as a result of a decision in June by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The court ruled that “performance standards” regulating Pike’s quarrying operations had to be included in a zoning ordinance for the city to enforce them.

The standards – which put limits on the noise, vibration, number of blasts, hours of operation and other aspects of operating the rock quarry – had been written into a consent agreement reached among Pike, neighboring Idexx Laboratories and the city of Westbrook in 2010.

Pike’s rights at its Spring Street quarry were originally called into question when Idexx opposed Pike’s planned expansion of its operations there.

The agreement was appealed by two other nearby businesses, Artel Inc. and Smiling Hill Farm.

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The Maine Supreme Judicial Court in June partially granted the appeal, saying the agreement was flawed because the city could only enforce the regulations if they were written into a zoning ordinance, and sent it back to the Maine Business and Consumer Court, which originally approved the agreement.

Justice Thomas Humphrey ruled in August that the agreement could stay in place temporarily, if Pike pursued a zone change.

The proposal to add to the manufacturing district standards regarding the blasting, crushing,  transportation and storage of rock will be presented to the Planning Board at its meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

City Planner Molly Just said the board scheduled a public hearing on the changes on Sept. 25, when it could also vote on the matter.

The City Council will make the final decision about whether to change the zone, she said.


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