An industrial firm’s proposal for a zoning rule change, which would allow scrap tire storage and recycling in M-1 (Industrial) zones under the terms of the Planning and Zoning Commission’s (P&Z) special permit process, has drawn stiff opposition from some High Bridge Road area residents.

MAAK Environmental Corporation, which lists its address at 40 High Bridge Road, is seeking the zoning rule change. If such a rule change is approved, the firm would then submit a zoning application to the P&Z for a special permit to conduct such scrap tire storage and recycling at 40 High Bridge Road.

That six-acre site with M-1 zoning holds a 59,000-square-foot industrial building that was constructed in 1965. It formerly housed Make-A-Home Foundation, Inc, which has moved its operations to Waterbury.

About 25 people attended a November 6 P&Z public hearing on the proposed zoning rule change.

P&Z Chairman Robert Mulholland stressed that the issue at that public hearing was whether the zoning regulations should be revised to allow scrap tire storage and recycling in M-1 zones, not whether such a land use should be allowed at 40 High Bridge Road.

MAAK President Moses Velez told P&Z members, “Our mission is to keep the planet clean,” stressing that MAAK’s tire recycling process would be nonpolluting.

P&Z member Donald Mitchell told Mr Velez that, as written by MAAK, the proposed zoning rule change would apply to “Type 1” waste as defined by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

“Type 1 is all kinds of solid waste,” Mr Mitchell said. “It seems to me this is fairly broad,” he said.

At a September 16 public hearing on MAAK’s earlier request for a zoning rule change, P&Z members had told MAAK representatives that then-proposed rule change was too broad and needed to be narrower in scope.

“We have no idea what’s going to come down the road after you guys,” Mr Mitchell said of the uncertainty of potential future proposals concerning waste handling in M-1 zones.

P&Z member Michael Porco, Sr, noted that there are many local warehouses, adding that a zoning rule change such as the one proposed by MAAK potentially could result waste-related activity at those buildings.

The resident population near local warehouses has greatly increased over the years, Mr Porco said.  

Mr Mitchell pointed out that although MAAK has a Type 1 waste handling permit from DEEP, it would also need a Type 2 permit to conduct the tire operation that it proposes.

“This needs to be extremely specific…This is not extremely specific,” Mr Mitchell said of MAAK’s proposed zoning rule change. “I thought we made this clear the last time you were here,” he added.

“Why did you pick Newtown and not Bridgeport?” as a site for a tire recycling operation, Mr Porco asked.

Initially, MAAK was considering buying the abandoned Batchelder industrial site on Swamp Road but it proved to be an unpractical site, so the firm started looking at other properties in Newtown, including one on South Main Street, Mr Velez said.

The firm considered sites in Bridgeport, Hartford, and Waterbury, but it likes Newtown, he said.

“You guys have got to come back to us with a lot of [technical] detail” about the proposed industrial operation, Mr Mulholland said.

Public Comment

Jill Tumney of 6 Beagle Trail raised questions about the environmental impact of a tire recycling operation.

Ms Tumney said that tires are highly flammable objects and could fuel tire fires. Tire fires have significant environmental impact, she said. 

Resident Bill Carboni raised many issues about the potential adverse effects of tire recycling. Such an activity could result in noise, air pollution, traffic, and tire fires, he said.

The machines that are used to cut up scrap tires can cause tire fires, he said, adding “tire fires are very hard to put out.”

If approved, there should be a formal fire protection plan for such an operation, Mr Carboni said.

Also, firefighters should have a site-access plan, he said. Mr Carboni also asked about the source of water at the site for firefighting.

If approved, the operation should have formal plans for fire containment and have safeguards in place to protect neighbors from the effects of tire fires, Mr Carboni said.

Todd Bobowick of 1 Rowledge Pond Road said, “It concerns me that the commission would even consider this [proposal].”

The site where MAAK wants to recycle tires lies within an “aquifer recharge area,” he said. The proposed activity risks allowing toxins to enter the environment, he added.

“You’re opening Pandora’s Box,” he told P&Z members.

Thomas Sharpe of 206 Hattertown Road, who is a principal in SMT Corporation at 14 High Bridge Road, said that using the 40 High Bridge Road site for tire recycling is “unthinkable,” listing concerns about smoke, dust, and tire fires. There are no fire hydrants on High Bridge Road, he said.

The proposed activity holds the potential for groundwater contamination, he said.

“I would lead the fight in order to stop this,” he said, adding that such a fight would translate into a “long haul” for the applicant.

Response

In response to the various criticism of the proposed tire recycling operation, Mr Velez said his firm would be prepared in the event that emergencies occur at the facility.

The firm is considering buying the building at 40 High Bridge Road in the future, he said.

MAAK has upgraded an existing water pump house at the site, he said.

Mr Mulholland said that there are “a 1,000 places” in the state where the MAAK proposal would be allowed under those places’ existing zoning regulations. MAAK’s proposal does not fit in with Newtown’s community character, he said.

“The old industrial sections of Connecticut, that’s where you should be looking,” he said.

The P&Z public hearing on the proposed zoning rule change to allow tire recycling in M-1 zones is scheduled to continue at its December 4 session.