Newtown Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) held a meeting at the Newtown Municipal Center February 23, in part, to finalize its action regarding a Hawleyville warehouse facility proposal.

The first item on the agenda was for that Application IW #21‐36 by Wharton Equity Partners, LLC, for property located at 10 Hawleyville Road and 1 Sedor Lane to construct a 344,880 square foot warehouse building and associated site improvements, including parking, storm water management, driveway, and wetland crossing.

IWC Chair Sharon Salling shared that while the public hearing was closed at the last meeting, the commissioners requested additional time “to review all the materials and consider all the comments.”

IWC member Craig Ferris took a moment to thank the applicant for reducing the impact to the wetlands.

His fellow IWC member Mike McCabe agreed with him and added, “I think they’ve done their homework, and I like the looks of this proposal.”

A motion was made to approve the application.

The IWC members voted 6:1, with member Stephanie Kurose voting to not approve the application.

“The application passes. You are approved,” Salling said to the applicants.

Wetlands Violation

The next item on the agenda was for Application IW #22‐02 by TMR Realty Newtown, LLC, property located at 1 Simm Lane for a wetland violation which requires confirmation for the proper functions of the on-site drainage, the water reclamation system, and the soil testing.

The discussion about the car wash’s wetlands violation was brief as the applicant was not present.

Senior Land Use Enforcement Officer Steve Maguire said, “I have not heard anything from the applicant, but I assume they’re still going through the review of the LEP and DEEP of the site there, so I’m sure they’ll be back at some point, and we’ll go from there.”

With the soil assessments still needing to be done, the application will be continued to the next IWC meeting.

The next scheduled IWC meeting will be Wednesday, March 9, at 7:30 pm, at the Newtown Municipal Center.

For more information about upcoming IWC meetings, visit newtown-ct.gov/inland-wetlands-commission.

Reporter Alissa Silber can be reached at alissa@thebee.com.