IWC Seeks Revised Church Plans To Protect Wetlands

By Andrew Gorosko

Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) members have asked a church group to rework aspects of its proposal to construct a 29,503-square-foot church and related facilities in Hawleyville to reduce the project’s environmental impact on the 13.7-acre site off Hawleyville Road (Route 25).

The IWC wants Grace Christian Fellowship to reduce the physical disturbance of the site at 4 Covered Bridge Road as a wetlands protection measure, said Conservation Official Rob Sibley.

IWC members conducted a second public hearing on the church construction proposal at a June 14 session. An initial hearing was held May 24. The public hearing will resume on June 28.

The congregation now leases space for its existing 13,500-square-foot church about one mile away at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6). The group wants to build a new larger church at 4 Covered Bridge Road to meet the needs of an expanding congregation.

Engineer Dainius Virbickas of Artel Engineering Group, LLC, of Brookfield, representing the church, described the project to IWC members. Approximately 2.4 acres of the 13.7-acre site are wetlands.

Mr Virbickas also responded to a range of environmental questions that were posed by IWC members and the public at the May 24 hearing.

The project would result in 135,215 square feet of impervious surfaces being created on the site, or approximately 3.1 acres of such coverage. Impervious surfaces include parking lots, sidewalks, driveways, and roofs. The church wants a 198-space parking lot.

Traffic engineer Michael Galante, representing the church, told IWC members that the church’s proposal to create a driveway link directly to Hawleyville Road would be the most appropriate way to provide access to the church. The driveway would extend to the church from the western side of Hawleyville Road, just south of the Exit 9 off-ramp of eastbound Interstate 84. That driveway would contain a bridge that crosses above a wetland. The driveway would contain one entry lane and two exit lanes.

Mr Virbickas said that an alternate emergency access to the site would be provided via the northern end of Covered Bridge Road, which is no longer a public road, but now serves as a driveway for a nearby residence.

“We’re not taking away any wetlands with this [construction] proposal. We’re spanning the wetlands with a bridge,” Mr Virbickas said.

Devices would be installed to trap any automotive fluids that leak from vehicles while they are parked in the parking lot, he said. 

Mr Virbickas said that the construction project would have no adverse environmental effects on 122 acres nearby, which are owned by M-Newtown Associates, LP.

M-Newtown owns five separate land parcels in the area near the church site. Three industrially zoned parcels lying to the east comprise approximately 102 acres. Two parcels to the northwest consist of about 20 acres in a residential area.

M-Newtown’s land east of the church site is at a higher elevation and would not be affected by drainage from the church site, Mr Virbickas said. Also, water draining from the church site would be discharged into a stream that lies downriver of ponds on M-Newtown’s land holdings to the northwest, Mr Virbickas said.

At the May 24 public hearing, a lawyer representing M-Newtown had asked whether the church project would environmentally damage M-Newtown’s land holdings.

Project Revisions

IWC member Donald Collier recommended that the church reduce the number of trees to be cut down to make way for a stormwater retention basin proposed for the site. Such basins are used to regulate the volume of stormwater that drains from a property after rainstorms.

Mr Sibley suggested that the church place stormwater retention structures beneath the church parking lot in order to reduce the size of the proposed above-ground retention basin.

IWC member Dr Philip Kotch noted that the proposed retention basin is adjacent to an environmentally sensitive wetland.

Dr Kotch recommended that the church use “pervious pavers” in parking areas as a way to allow stormwater to drain directly into the soil. Such paving stones contain voids to allow water to flow through them, but are rigid enough to allow vehicles to park atop them.

“We’re looking for a new approach, a 21st Century approach, for dealing with this asphalt problem,” he said.

Mr Sibley said the use of pervious paving stones would effectively reduce the extent of physical disturbance at the site, serving to protect wetland water quality.

Grace Christian Fellowship began operations in Newtown in 1984. Grace Christian Fellowship is an interdenominational church affiliated with the RHEMA Ministerial Association International.