DEC issues tickets for illegal burning at Freehold equipment business

FREEHOLD―Two people have been ticketed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for allegedly burning old campers at a Freehold business.

Around 12:24 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, the Freehold Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched by Greene County 911 to investigate a reported smoke condition on County Route 67.  

Responding firefighters found that the smoke was coming from burning camper trailers from Smiley's & Sons Farm and Industrial Equipment. An environmental conservation officer was then requested to the scene.

According to the DEC, Brandon Henderson of Freehold and Gregory Ferrara of Stamford told the officer that they were dissembling old campers and burning the materials.

The officer “observed metals, insulation, and other non-identifiable pieces of solid waste in the burn piles,” DEC stated.

The fire was extinguished and both Henderson and Ferrara were given tickets for the unlawful disposal of solid waste and the unlawful open burning of prohibited materials, returnable to the Town of Greenville Court.

The campers, along with other vehicles and equipment belonging to the business, have been a source of recent contention and led to a standing-room-only town Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) public hearing back in November.

On June 10 of last year, property and business owner George B. Henderson was served with a “notice of violation and remedy” from town code enforcement for the 173-acre Freehold property. According to the town, Henderson is in violation of the Greenville Zoning Law by operating an alleged junkyard.

The town has updated its zoning laws several times over the years but it was not until last spring that an amendment impacted Henderson. In May, the Greenville Town Board adopted Local Law #5 of 2025, “modifying the zoning law to discontinue preexisting non-conforming and non-permitted uses. ”Specifically, it applies to motorized vehicle racetracks, commercial wind facilities, landfills―and junkyards.

“What it does is it terminates the grandfathered use,” Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea has explained.

Grandfathering essentially allows existing uses of land or buildings to continue even if they no longer comply with new or changed zoning regulations.

Rappleyea had noted that the purpose of the new law was to bring the zoning into compliance with the town’s comprehensive plan. And although it was not intended to target any specific individual, a situation involving campers was “the flashpoint,” he said.

In mid-April, a purported ongoing dispute between Henderson and his son Charlie Henderson, who lives next door, led to dozens of old trailers and campers from Smiley's being moved to encircle the latter’s property. Charlie Henderson called it “harassment” and filed complaints with town code enforcement.

The trailers were moved but the question has now been legally established as to whether Smiley's constitutes a junkyard.

George Henderson disputed code enforcement’s determination and is requesting the ZBA overturn it, sparking the public hearing that brought out numerous people on his behalf along with others who wanted to see the property cleaned up.

According to his attorney, Benjamin F. Neidl, the business should fall under “equipment rental or sales yard,” which is a permitted use under the zoning law.

“He maintains an inventory there of trucks, trailers, tractors other farming and industrial equipment that he hauls out for sale,” said Neidl, adding that George Henderson has operated the business since around 1979, roughly a decade before the town enacted its first zoning law.

As of Wednesday, the Zoning Board of Appeals has yet to vote on George Henderson’s appeal.

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