Wetlands Panel Rethinks And Approves Tech Park

By Andrew Gorosko

The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) this week reversed its recent rejection of Newtown Technology Park, approving the industrial condominium complex proposed by the Economic Development Commission (EDC) for an environmentally sensitive, town-owned site off Edmond Road.

At a March 9 IWC session, members voted 5-1 to approve the project. Voting in favor were Chairman Anne Peters, Sharon Salling, Katja Pieragostini, Mary Curran, and Kristen Hammar. Philip Kotch dissented.

On February 23, the IWC had voted 5-to-1 to reject the development proposal.

On March 1, the EDC then voted unanimously to seek a court appeal against the IWC in a move to overturn the IWC’s rejection of the project.

The Board of Selectmen on March 7 agreed to forward to the Legislative Council for review and action the EDC’s request for a court appeal. But because the IWC has now approved the technology park application, lodging such a court appeal would no longer be necessary.

The development proposal involves an approximately 41.7-acre site off Commerce Road where much land would be left undeveloped. The proposed six-building complex would contain an aggregate of approximately 100,000 square feet of enclosed floor space.

The project has been in the planning stages since 2004. The town acquired land along Commerce Road in 1995 to provide road frontage for access to the site, which was given to the town by the state for economic development. The EDC is pursuing the project to broaden the local property tax base.

The EDC will now submit the project to the US Army Corps of Engineers for a wetlands protection review.

At the March 9 IWC session, Dr Kotch lodged his opposition to the technology park project.

Dr Kotch said that the proposal amounts to ill-conceived development that is unnecessary for an environmentally pristine area. He said he opposes any development occurring in the area designated for the construction of the structure known as Building #1.

The wetlands on the site would not be adequately protected from environmental damage, he said, adding, “I’m very disappointed.”

Conservation Commission members have urged restraint in the site’s development, noting its proximity to the environmentally sensitive Deep Brook, a trout stream that is a tributary of the Pootatuck River. A section of Deep Brook is a state-designated wild trout management area.

Before IWC members voted on March 9, Rob Sibley, deputy director of planning and land use, said that he had recently spoken individually to IWC members about the specifics of the development application in discussing those members’ various concerns about the project causing environmental damage to the area.

When the IWC had rejected the project on February 23, members decided that the development would  involve a loss of 13,840 square feet of wetlands; that the placement of an access road across a stream would alter the width and character of a floodplain in that area; that another proposed stream crossing at the site would unnecessarily fragment a wetland corridor, and that the project lacked adequate environmentally protective buffer areas, resulting in the prospect of damage to soil nutrient cycling and wildlife habitat values within wetlands.

IWC members had rejected an earlier version of the technology park project last September.

Conditional Approval

In endorsing the application on March 9, IWC members put many conditions on their approval.

Those conditions include: that the IWC receive and approve the final wording for an 11.6-acre conservation easement on the site before any development occurs; that detailed plans for the construction of buildings at the site must receive IWC approval before building permits are issued; and that landscaping plans will include the use fescue grasses that will not be mowed at the rear and at the sides of the buildings.

Also, the eventual private developer of the site would need to hold a conference with town land use officials before construction starts; that the applicant’s plans for wetlands/watercourses mitigation and restoration will serve as conditions of the approval; and that the developer must submit quarterly reports on the progress of development at the site.

If the conceptual plans for the technology park project receive all necessary approvals, some private firm or firms would develop the site after purchasing or leasing the real estate from the town. Such an industrial project would require that the town’s land use agencies approve more detailed development plans for the site than those which have been submitted by the EDC to the IWC, so far.

After the IWC voted to approve the technology park project EDC Chairman Wes Thompson said, “I just thank the IWC for their reconsideration and their positive vote. I think it was a good example of cooperation within the town.”

“All the [conditions] that they asked for are fine,” Mr Thompson said of the many conditions placed on the approval.

“This [approval] adds a lot of value to the property,” said Elizabeth Stocker, town director of economic and community development.

If the EDC had not gained IWC approval for the project, it would not be in a position to seek another approval for it from the Corps of Engineers, she said.

“We’ve been working on this project for many years,” she noted.