A private environmental protection group has informed the first selectman that it is concerned about development that has occurred at a 34-acre site at Fairfield Hills, near the environmentally sensitive Deep Brook, without the developer first having secured a wetlands/watercourses protection permit for such work from the town.

In an October 21 letter to First Selectman Pat Llodra, Stephen Zakur, the president of the Candlewood Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, raises the environmental protection issue about the land which the state has donated for creation of The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.

Catherine Violet Hubbard was one of the first graders who died on 12/14. The animal sanctuary would honor her memory.

Mr Zakur explains that Trout Unlimited has been monitoring the Hubbard site due to its interest in protecting the environmental quality of the nearby Deep Brook, which the group has been working to improve as trout hatchery habitat for the past decade.

“Our concerns are that that any development that is not done in compliance with regulations puts the [water] resource at risk,” Mr Zakur said in a statement.

At its October 22 meeting, the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) received for review an application from The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation for a wetlands/watercourses permit for the recent construction of a 400-square-foot concrete pad, which was built at the 34-acre site to serve as “pedestal” for the placement of sculpture.

The IWC is expected to discuss the matter at its November 12 meeting.

In his letter to Mrs Llodra, Mr Zakur wrote, in part, “It is my understanding that the developer had no permits and did not comply with he most basic of regulations required in the … permit process — zoning, wetlands, health, etc.”

“Such a siting [of the concrete pad] would not have been approved if the normal regulatory process had been followed,” he wrote, citing the pad’s specific location on the site.

“This is a poor start to this [animal sanctuary] work. I hope that the town can satisfactorily remedy this situation,” he wrote.

Mr Zakur recommends a range of measures to address the planned development of the site, including the safe removal of the concrete pad.

In response to Mr Zakur’s letter, Mrs Llodra wrote, “It is my expectation that every aspect of development on this site will be subject to our town’s regulatory process.”

“I cannot speak for the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation but am quite confident that they, too, are committed to following and complying with the established regulations. Every conversation I have had with principals of the foundation assures me that this project will go forth with care and respect for the issues of concern related to Deep Brook,” Mrs Llodra wrote.

“Mr Zakur and Trout Unlimited are right to call this infraction to our attention. The work proceeded without having been reviewed or permitted, as it should have been. My understanding is that this is not the fault of the foundation, but a lapse in the oversight role of a town employee,” she wrote.

“This error is being rectified immediately under the guidance of [Director of Planning] George Benson,” Mrs Llodra wrote.