This is the document a Town Board adopts that details the community's preferences for its future development. It includes elements like the retention of rural character, support for local businesses, natural resource protection. To implement the goals of the Comprehensive Plan, the Town drafts and adopts a zoning code.

This is the legal document that governs how land will be developed in the community. In New York State, the zoning code is derived from, and meant to comply with, the guidance of the Comprehensive Plan.

The Town’s zoning authority enables the Town to determine if mining will be an allowed use, and if allowed, where in the Town mining can occur.

In Rhinebeck, it is the only area in the Town where sand and gravel mining is permitted to take place. This district, which is part of the zoning law, was developed based upon the recommendations found in the Comprehensive Plan (see page 5.16 of Comp Plan). Mining is not allowed to occur outside the Mining Overlay District.

DEC, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, is the department of the New York state government responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources. It manages and enforces the state's environmental laws and regulations.

New York State implemented the Mined Land Reclamation Law (MLRL) to monitor and enforce mining activities. DEC administers the MLRL and has the sole authority to regulate sand and gravel mines that exceed 750 cubic yards of material to be mined in 12 calendar months. The Town’s zoning law authorizes the Town to determine if and where such mining can take place.

DEC issues a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to an applicant wanting to operate a sand and gravel mine. It governs how sand and gravel will mined, how much will be mined and how the mined area will be 'reclaimed' when the sand and gravel in exhausted. Towns have no authority over these aspects of mining.

The Town's Planning Board is responsible for truck routes and site access where a Town road is involved. A Special Use Permit must be applied for and will determine where that access can occur. A Town's authority, by means of its zoning authority, governs where in the Town mining can take place. In Rhinebeck, that area is the Mining Overlay District. It is important to remember that Towns cannot govern how much material is mined, or how many truckloads per day can be used to transport that material. That authority belongs to DEC alone.

Towns do not have the authority to govern how many truckloads or trips per day of materials can be transported or how much material is allowed to be mined. That authority belongs to the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation). How this can actually be monitored is another concern.

The Town's Highway Department’s role is primarily focused upon infrastructure. They can establish/dictate the weight of trucks using a Town road, regulate the access point to a given property based upon safety considerations (such as sight lines), and monitor the impact of traffic on the road’s durability.

In June of 2020, the New York State Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Second Judicial Department, ruled that Red Wing has a vested right to mine 94 acres of its property as a prior nonconforming use, overruling the Dutchess County Supreme Court ruling in July 2017 that upheld the ZBA's determination denying the pre-existing nonconforming use. The Court of Appeals then denied Rhinebeck permission to appeal that appellate decision. Because of the Appellate Division's ruling, the part of those 94 acres that are not part of the Mi-O district and can be mined in spite of Rhinebeck's zoning law.