Date: Fri 25-Dec-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Blakeman-lawsuit-wetlands

Full Text:

Development Firm Sues Over Wetlands Rstrictions

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A development firm has sued the Conservation Commission because the commission

placed certain wetlands construction restrictions on it when approving the

firm's four-lot residential subdivision in the Rollingwood development on New

Lebbon Road.

In a lawsuit filed in Danbury Superior Court, Blakeman Construction, LLC,

seeks to have a judge lift the wetlands construction restrictions placed on

it. The property is known as Rollingwood, Section 6.

On April 8, Blakeman applied to the commission for a wetlands construction

permit to develop a 21-acre parcel it owns on the east side of New Lebbon

Road, just north of New Lebbon Road's intersection with High Bridge Road. The

commission held a public hearing on the application October 14 and approved

the subdivision on November 18.

The Rollingwood project has been under development during the past several

years. When eventually completed, Rollingwood is expected to contain about 100

houses. The project lies in the area between New Lebbon Road and Toddy Hill

Road, north of High Bridge Road.

The Conservation Commission decided that the wetlands on the site are

extensive, covering about 75 percent of its area. Construction near the

wetlands would environmentally damage them commission members found, so they

decided to prohibit construction within 75 feet of wetland boundary lines.

The Conservation Commission also required that existing rock processing

facilities along New Lebbon Road be removed from the area, and that all land

there within a conservation easement be replanted with vegetation. The

commission also required that a planting plan be submitted for all four lots

of the subdivision.

In the lawsuit, Blakeman states the commission acted illegally, arbitrarily

and in abuse of the discretion vested in it because there was no evidence to

justify or support the 75-foot wetlands construction prohibition. "There was

substantial credible evidence that there was minimal wetland impact, if any,

and specifically that a 75-foot buffer as not necessary," the lawsuit states.

Blakeman states the commission doesn't have the authority to require a

planting plan as a condition of approval.

The commission deprived Blakeman of a reasonable use of its land without the

due process of law, the suit adds.

More than 75 percent of the swampy development site lies in wetlands, with a

mass of Carlisle Muck in the area.

The construction restrictions placed on the subdivision could potentially

reduce the number of houses there from four to three.

The town is scheduled to answer the allegations made in lawsuit January 12 in

Danbury Superior Court.