Land developer Peter Busque said this week the 150 acres of land he set aside for public use in his new rock quarry application would be threatened if the town issues a moratorium on quarry applications, as suggested by quarry abutter Margaret Pinchbeck.

He also said the land donation is contingent on the town granting final approval for a quarry operation at a Nash Road site. Busque submitted plans for a 15-acre quarry just this week.

“It would not be financially possible for me to donate this property to the town if I can’t get the quarry up and running. That’s just the way it is, unfortunately,” Busque said.

In total, Busque owns two lots comprising 165 acres at the corner of Nash Road and Route 302 in Windham. His proposed 15-acre quarry, located on the same 110-acre lot he purchased for his initial quarry application, is scheduled to go before the Windham Planning Board at its Feb. 26 meeting.

Busque said that by forming a separate corporation, he effectively sold to himself a 55-acre ring of land that surrounds the proposed quarry. That land would be lined with trails for outdoor activities such as hiking and snowmobiling and would be available for public use.

His new quarry application, which was filed Monday, includes a 550-foot access road directly from Route 302, instead of the existing dirt road that connects to Nash Road. Busque said he has sold a 4-acre section of the land that borders Route 302 on one side of the new road. He said he is discussing donating the land on the other side of the new road to the Windham Parks and Recreation Department for sports fields.

Busque said he will also add a 55-acre square that borders the larger lot to the public trails project.

The plan also would allow part of the land set aside for the quarry, a wooded block of 35 acres, to be open to the public during the first 15 years of the project, making a total of 150 acres of land that would be available for public use.

With his maneuver of splitting the land into these sections and passing ownership to himself, Busque would be considered the only abutter to his own property.

Town Manager Tony Plante said landowners are required to notify adjacent property owners when they want to start a building project, but abutters have “no special stature or standing” in opposing developments to property.

A town ordinance requires Busque to keep a 150-foot buffer zone between the quarry and the nearest building. Busque said the horseshoe-shaped section that he broke off is 250 feet wide and extends the buffer zone.

Pinchbeck, head of the Windham Preservation Committee which has opposed the quarry’s development, said she feels the extended buffer zone would be “wonderful.”

Busque said the new application takes into account problems the public had with his previous plan, such as the position of the road and the wetlands that are no longer encompassed.

This is the third course of action Busque has announced for the Nash Road property since the town council rejected his original application last month. He has said he would turn the land into a housing development. He is also appealing the council’s rejection of the first application in Cumberland County Superior Court. If Busque wins the appeal, he said he would still donate the property to the town.

“I wasn’t doing anything with it, so I might as well open it up to the public,” Busque said.

Pinchbeck said she doesn’t remember how she heard that Busque had filed a new quarry application this week, but said she may have been told by Community Development Director Roger Timmons.

On Tuesday afternoon, Pinchbeck came to the Community Development office, according to Timmons, and was given Busque’s day-old application.

Later that evening at the town council meeting, Pinchbeck spoke during the public comment section and asked for a moratorium to be placed on quarry applications until the ordinance could be rewritten, stating that there are currently no quarry applications before the planning board.

“She lied, she knew that there was a quarry application,” said Busque.

Pinchbeck said that her comment was factual because the planning board has not discussed Busque’s new application in a meeting.

As for the moratorium, Busque said he believes it is a delay tactic to keep his quarry from opening.

“She’s trying to stop me, that’s the only reason,” he said. “If she puts this moratorium up, it could last for a whole year,” said Busque. He said with the delay he wouldn’t be able to afford to donate the land.

“What she’s going to do is screw this whole thing up for the community,” he said.

“I certainly don’t mean it as a delay for his project,” said Pinchbeck.

She said Busque’s offer to allow public use of his land hinges on the town’s acceptance of his quarry application.

“I don’t know what his motivations are,” Pinchbeck said.

Council Chairman John MacKinnon said the council has not discussed the moratorium idea, but that the issue would be complicated because of the appeal process and the council’s involvement in the previous application.