John Baymore on sat 26 oct 02
Hi fellow CLAYART potters.
I have been researching the situation that gained NATIONAL attention on
October 18th
in the New York Times article about Susan Beecher's two chamber wood fire=
d
climbing
kiln. It is located in a somewhat rural section of the Catskills of New
York state in a
town called Jewett. This unfortunate case, which is gaining a very high
"press profile",
has potentially precedent setting legal elements that, in the long term,
could eventually
impact ANY handcraft potter who chooses to produce work in a studio locat=
ed
at their
home in a residential setting.
This case goes WAY beyond the obvious issue pertaining to the use of wood=
kilns. It
could potentially also affect those using gas or even electric kilns. =
It could certainly affect the use of wood kilns in the US. If you are a
wood firing potter or
hope to someday be one...... you probably should have even more concerns
with this
situation, and should keep following the ongoing progress.
The "Beecher case" occupied the first hour of my current "Kilns: Design,
Construction, and =
Operation" class at the NH Institute of Art this past week. One of the
topics we cover is all =
of the permitting and potential legal issues of setting up a kiln
installation at a home-type =
studio. This situation provided a great case for discussion. =
Unfortunately..... this is NOT =
an "abstract" classroom exercise..... this is affecting a real fellow
potter.
This particular case is not a new thing. The whole situation started
sometime around last
Thanksgiving. Since the second firing, Susan Beecher's wood kiln (based =
on
a Ruggles +
Rankin design) has been shut down by the town of Jewett, pending some fin=
al
resolution
of the matter. That a year later this issue is making a half page articl=
e
in the NY Times
shows the significance and intractability of the messy situation. =
Pottery too infrequently gets any "big press", but this is NOT the kind w=
e
want.
This whole case is really only partially "about" the wood kiln itself. =
=46rom doing some
research, it seems to me that the kiln issue was the catalyst for lots of=
other seething town
governance and cultural issues. As in most cases, it is certainly best
that you read all the
documentation of the situation that is available and come to your own
conclusions about
it.
I think it is very important that you avail yourselves of the NY Times
article located at the
www.NYTimes.com/2002/10/19/myregion/19CATS.html address =
and see for yourself what was written in that well respected and widely
read newspaper. =
Please read the statements by the plaintiff, Mr. Donald Middleton, and hi=
s
supporters
carefully since, to me, many of the statements appear to be highly
"crafted" in their choice
of specific words ...... using "hot button" wording as well as many diver=
se
items that will
likely be legally contested.
If I remember correctly, there is a picture that is in the print version =
of
the article that is
NOT on the website. That missing picture shows the plaintiff family,
Donald and Bridget
Middleton, standing in front of an old wooden wagon with Susan Beecher's
wood kiln
and studio / home well back in the background. IF the picture at the ang=
le
it is taken is
actually representational of the general Jewett neighborhood, the setting=
that can be seen
is extremely wooded and rural, and is one that seems pretty darn
appropriate to the use of
wood kilns. This does NOT appears to be a "suburban housing development"=
with
houses all packed together. The setting that seems to be indicated in th=
e
photo is FAR
more "rural" than the sites of many operational wood kilns in this countr=
y.
I understand
from speaking briefly with Susan Beecher yesterday that it was shot from
the most
extreme corner of the Middleton's property in order to get that view of t=
he
kiln and to
"miss" the row of 30 foot pine trees that she had planted to "screen" the=
kiln area from the =
Middleton's property.
Another VERY valuable bit of research to give you more information on thi=
s
situation is
the online minutes of the town council meetings of the town of Jewett. =
They can be found
at the www.townofjewett.com/minutes_7x.html address. PLEASE read the
January 4th,
Feb. 13th, and Mar. 8th meeting minutes. They are enlightening. Also go=
to the homepage at
www.townofjewett.com and look at the pictures of the town to see just how=
generally
rural this place is.
For some background on the plaintiff in this case, a quick web search sho=
ws
that you can
find some information on Donald Middleton at
www.amityvillerecord.com/news/2002/0814/front_page/007.html
and
www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ohms/decis/middletr.htm
and
www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ohms/decis/middlecr.htm
among others.
In efforts to whip up support for their case, Mr. and Mrs. Middleton
circulated a flyer
with the picture of the kiln to members of the vacation home community,
which
outnumber the more year-round residents about 2 to 1. The flyer announce=
d
the
formation of the "Jewett Civic Association" and read "Want this in front =
of
your home? =
This illegal fire and smoke-belching industrial kiln was built last year
only 150 feet from
the front door of an unsuspecting part-time resident of Jewett Township. =
By working
together we can stop it, and then change a Town government, which treats
'nonresidents'
as second class citizens". =
It is important to note here that in the transcripts of the town council
meetings Susan
Beecher is quoted as saying she had conversations with the Middleton fami=
ly
members at
the site during the construction of the kiln, and they responded with
something like "how
nice". So they were aware of the kiln going in at a pretty early point i=
n
time. If they had
concerns, the construction of the $30,000.00 kiln could easily have been
discussed well
before all of the money and labor had been fully invested. From the town=
meeting notes
it ALSO appears that Susan Beecher went to the town about the kiln
installation, and
THOUGHT she had complied with what they required her to do to put it in.
I certainly have a question about Councilman Middleton's role in this. =
Yes, the similar =
family name is quite obvious. The plaintiff family in this case IS a
relative of the
Councilman. The NY Times article says that Councilman Middleton is a
nephew of the
plaintiff. To me this smacks of severe "conflict of interest" and it wou=
ld
be my
contention that Councilman Middleton should recuse himself from any
official town
business relating to this matter. Reading of the town meeting minutes
shows that
Councilman Middleton is a SERIOUS driving force against Ms. Beecher's kil=
n
in those
meetings. Yesterday on the phone Susan told me that another relative of
Donald
Middleton, his brother, is sitting on the town Planning Board, and intend=
s
not to recuse himself in this
matter.
=46rom the Jewett town meeting minutes it is also clear that there are li=
kely
elements of
responsibility of "escalating" this into a totally confrontational
situation with Donald and
Doris Middleton and their lawyer that fall somewhat to the town governmen=
t
members. It
is also clear that the town government, being confronted by a messy
"culture clash"
between full-time and part-time residents, is looking for some way out of=
this mess that
doesn't get the "blame" hung on them. I get the feeling that they are
supportive of Ms.
Beecher's studio and kiln, but are being legally "outgunned" by Mr.
Middleton and his
lawyer, and are now in a very "defensive" position as to their own action=
s
in this matter. =
In fact, Susan told me that Mr. Middleton's lawyer has filed to have the
town Zoning
Board's decision about her operation being an allowed "home occupation"
overturned by
the NY courts under something called "Article 78".
So Susan Beecher is caught in a mess of "off topic" small town politics
that has little to
do with the merits of the actual issues on the table.
It is also interesting to go to the results of the new Jewett Town Opinio=
n
Survey. You'll
note there that 66.1 percent of the respondents think "arts and culture"
should be
encouraged and 29 percent think it should be allowed. That's about 85
percent! 41.4
percent think "home occupations" should be encouraged, and 49.3 percent
think they
should be allowed. That's 90 percent!!! 70.7 percent think the existing=
home occupation
regulations are adequate and 12.1 percent think the existing regulations
should be
decreased. That's about 83 percent!! The supervisors of the survey
estimate that the full-
time resident vs. part-time resident response split was about 50/50. =
So.... what's wrong
with this picture in light of what is happening to Susan Beecher?
The "tone" of the writing of the NY Times article is also a bit
interesting. I would say
that a stronger "case" is made by the reporter, Elissa Gootman, for the
plaintiffs
than was presented for the potter. I cannot believe that Ms. Beecher did=
not make much
more articulate statements in her own defense than those which were quote=
d
by the
reporter. In speaking with her on the phone, I found her very articulate=
,
well spoken, and
with a good grasp of her craft. The statements quoted from the plaintiffs=
supporters are
"inflammatory" while the support statements for Ms. Beecher were very, ve=
ry
low key. It
is no accident that the picture of the Middletons with the kiln in the
background includes
their two young grandchildren; obviously used here as emotional "hot
button" fodder for
winning their case.
The matter that is most important to ALL handcraft potters..... no matter=
how they fire....
is the very careful inclusion of the word "industrial" in relation to Ms.=
Beecher's wood
kiln. Those of us who are familiar with both wood kilns and with real
industrial ceramic
production know how absurd that word is in this context. No actual
industrial ceramics =
firm would use such labor intensive hand methods in this day and age. Th=
e
wood kiln is
clearly the province of the contemporary ceramic artist working with old
style traditional
methods.
The word "industrial" is not there by accident. The zoning regulations i=
n
most any
neighborhood in the USA list specific uses that are allowed in each
district. In many
communities "home occupations" are allowed in residential and agricultura=
l
areas. That
is apparently true in Jewett. In just about every town that has zoning
laws, "industrial"
uses are strictly prohibited in all but a very narrow industrial zone. =
Additionally, while
potter's kilns are usually not specified by name in any rules, there are
very specific gas,
electrical, and fire safety codes for "industrial furnaces" on the code
books, and these
regulations are prohibitively expensive items with which to comply. =
Unfortunately it is a
very small step if you say that a potter's kiln is an "industrial" unit t=
o
also say that the
production of handcrafted pottery itself is "industrial" in nature.
If a precedent setting case is made that a potters kiln is an industrial
furnace, it could have
devastating effects on just about all of us. You cannot have an industri=
al
furnace running
in a residential district....... whether it is fired by wood, gas, or
electricity.
I do have to say that I believe that it is possible that Susan Beecher is=
not totally "lilly
white" in this unfortunate matter. There are certainly some questions th=
at
come to my
mind about how this situation got to the total impasse that it is now at.=
=
There could have
been more that she could have done at the interpersonal level to preclude=
this event from
happening in this very nasty way. It is possible that the kiln design
leads to the
production of more smoke than is necessary, or that the firing technique
utilized does. =
But that really can't be determined from the information I have available=
.
However ..... it IS clear that this case is being blown SO far out of
proportion and has
such dire possible consequences to ALL handcraft potters, that I believe =
it
is in the best
interests of all of us to provide this poor woman with all the support th=
at
we can give her.
That support CERTAINLY could come in the form of letters to the town
Planning Board =
members (who are now in charge of the next part of the case) and also to
Ms. Beecher =
herself. Write whatever you want, but I think letters of support should
focus on certain specific
issues, such as:
- that in the context of zoning, professional artists are
practicing "professionals" in
the same sense as architects, lawyers, business consultants, and
such.
- that handcraft pottery is widely regarded as an artform, NOT a
form of
"industrial" production.
- that the number of pieces of handcrafted pottery produced by
those allowed to
work in "home occupations" is not a determinant of the "industria=
l"
nature for the
business.
- that the financial success of an artist working in any medium i=
s
not a determinant
of "industrial" nature for a business.
- that penalizing an allowed "home occupation" for its financial
success is an
illogical and unfair tactic.
- that handcraft pottery making is a very typical "home
occupation".
- that for a potter, a fuel fired kiln located outdoors is not a
highly unusual thing.
- that a well sited and maintained potter's kiln is not inherentl=
y
an "eyesore".
- that a potter's kiln is NOT an industrial furnace or oven.
- that a potter's kiln is not somehow inherently a "fire hazard"
that should be
outlawed.
- that ceramic kilns CAN be operated safely by a knowledgeable
person.
- that lead bearing compounds are not typically used in the
production of high
temperature wood fired pottery.
- that the volatilization of materials out of the molten glazes i=
s
essentially
insignificant in the gases exiting the kiln.
- that a wood fired kiln is in constant control and supervision b=
y
the potter for the
entire firing.
- that once the actual burning of the wood ceases, there is no fi=
re
present in the
kiln. The glowing hot kiln then takes a long time to cool off fr=
om
the stored heat
energy, and a wood kiln is no different in this regard from a gas=
or electric kiln.
- that the routine standard of practice for this type of kiln
construction utilizes
firebrick laid up mostly dry or at most with very thin non-bondin=
g
fireclay type
mortars.
- that Susan Beecher is a nationally recognized mid-career cerami=
c
artist and has
extensive training and experience in her field. She acts as a
teacher of ceramics to
other potters. She is a cultural asset for the Town of Jewett.
- that there is a significant history for woodkilns in the USA, a=
nd
contemporary
woodkilns are located all over this country in many types of
"settings", and are a
current trend in international ceramic production.
- that there are currently a huge number of these general types o=
f
wood kilns being
utilized in the highly populated and quite modern country of Japa=
n.
Many are in =
much more urban settings, located right next to other homes and
businesses.
-that wood kilns utilize renewable natural resources rather than=
depleting
disappearing fossil fuel reserves.
- That Ms. Beecher's kiln burns mostly scrap wood that would like=
ly
be disposed
of by burning it in open piles anyway.
- that in the 6-7 firings a year of Ms. Beecher's kiln, it likely=
burns less wood than
a single family in the Catskills who heat their homes in the wint=
er
with wood
stoves.
- that home wood stoves are notoriously inefficient combustion
devices which =
produce a lot of smoke, and they typically operate 24 hours a day=
,
7 days a week,
at least 4 months a year.
- that the timing of firings could easily be set up by Ms. Beeche=
r
to minimize the
impact of any wood smoke on the closest neighbors who typically
visit Jewett
about a half dozen weekends a year.
- that the amount of wood smoke at a ground to second story level=
from a wood
kiln located 150 feet away from a building is typically a pretty
low concentration
under normal firing conditions.
- that the town meeting record indicates that Ms. Beecher has
already
demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with the Middletons in
minimizing the
impact of her firings on their family.
- that issues such as noise from others motorcycles, the potentia=
l
location of
trailers by others, the banning of tall flagpoles on properties,
and other such
diverse matters being mentioned are totally unrelated to the meri=
ts
of this specific
situation.
- that the production of diverse types of artwork is an important=
part of the cultural
fabric of the United States, and that support of artistic endeavo=
rs
is important to
the general quality of life in this country.
- that this particular case is being watched by the ceramic arts
community
nationwide (and even internationally) as having serious potential=
impacts on the
richness of the cultural life of the country.
and finally.... and to me VERY importantly.......
- about the total inappropriateness of having a family member of
the plaintiff
"driving" the case against the kiln in the town government
meetings, and the
necessity that they recuse themselves from such discussions due t=
o
the obvious
"conflicts of interest".
Your letters can be addressed to:
Planning Board
Jane Bostrum; Chairwoman
Town Of Jewett
Municipal Building
3547 County Route 23C
P.O. Box 132
Jewett, NY 12444
You can also send a copy to =
Susan Beecher
2070 Rte. 23C
East Jewett, NY 12424
The legal system in the US is very much dependent on who hires the bigges=
t
and fastest
"gun". Susan is up against a group of second vacation home owners who ha=
ve
banded
together to enforce a NIMBY lawsuit against her and the town. As the
quotes in the NY
Times article clearly show, this group is not above bringing "red herring=
"
issues like the
noise of motorcycles and the possibility of someone putting a trailer hom=
e
on their
property into this whole debate to incite irrational support. They don't=
care how they win,
just that they win. That group likely is VERY affluent and "politically
connected", and
will spend lots of money to win their case. As a professional potter, I
would expect that
Susan is "financially outclassed" right from the start. =
I would like to APPEAL to you ALL to help a fellow potter by donating som=
e
financial
help for her defense. Legal time is expensive. There are about 3000
readers of the
CLAYART discussion list. If only one third of us donated a paltry $10 to=
Susan's legal
expenses that would raise about $10,000.00 to help support her case. =
Donate whatever
you can afford.... if it is more than $10 that would be great. If it is
only $5, that's fine too.
I am sending a check out today. How about YOU? =
Send the checks made out to: =
Attny. Marc Gerstman
313 Hamilton St.
Albany, NY 12210
Please indicate on the note line of the check that it is for the "Susan
Beecher Legal
Defense Fund"
No, it won't be tax deductible. What it WILL be is helping out a fellow
potter who is
very much "under the gun". It will also likely be helping each and every=
potter in the
USA (including yourself) to not find themselves in a similar situation in=
the future, with a
different plaintiff's lawyer pointing to the legal precedent set in the
State of New York's
Middleton vs. Beecher case to help prove his or her case against YOU.
Thanks for reading this far and I am sorry this is so long.. Please spre=
ad
the word =
outside the CLAYART network to your fellow potters. First and foremost,
this is a =
political issue and we need to gather what little power base in numbers
that we have.
We may not be town residents, but we can offer a body of "expert opinion"=
, =
documentation of typical "business practice', and the knowledge that the
whole =
country is watching happenings in tiny little Jewett, New York.
Sincerely,
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086
603-654-2752
JBaymore@compuserve.com
Stephen Parry-Thomas on sat 26 oct 02
Hi,
You may not want to here this, but wood & coal firing has been banned in the
home town of the potteries - Stoke-on-Trent -UK , for many years. I am not
aware of any potters in Stoke-on-Trent who wood firing because of the
smokeless zone act which became a BI law in the 1960s. I do realise that
the scale of potters in Stoke in the 50s & 60s was such that action must be
taken because of the heath problems in stoke due to the coal firing.
Stephen & Karen Parry-Thomas
http://www.morrigancraftpottery.co.uk
steve@morrigancraftpottery.co.uk
morrigancp@aol.com
Leland G. Hall on sun 27 oct 02
Good job John. Thanks. This IS important. Count me in.
Leland Hall
Before The Wheel Enterprises
Le Pine, Oregon, USA
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