Wetlands Rejection Appealed

By Andrew Gorosko

The developer of a four-lot residential subdivision proposed for Hattertown Road, known as Hattertown Place, has filed a court appeal over the Inland Wetlands Commission’s (IWC) recent rejection of a wetlands permit for the project.

In a lawsuit filed March 31 in Danbury Superior Court, Hattertown, LLC, of Pawling, N.Y., seeks to have a judge order the IWC to approve a wetlands permit for the proposed subdivision.

IWC members voted against providing a wetlands permit for Hattertown Place on March 11.

It is the second time that the IWC has rejected a wetlands permit for the construction proposal, and also the second time that the developer has appealed such a rejection in court. The initial lawsuit is pending.

Last July, the developer had sued the IWC after its June rejection of a four-lot subdivision proposal for the 11.4-acre site at 22 Hattertown Road.

Following that IWC rejection, the developer withdrew from consideration a parallel residential subdivision application for Hattertown Place, which was then pending before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

The site, which has a significant amount of wetlands, is on the west side of Hattertown Road, about 700 feet north of Hattertown Road’s intersection with Poverty Hollow Road. The site has F&R-1 zoning, within which the minimum building lot size is one acre.

On March 11, IWC members decided against providing a wetlands permit for the project, citing environmental issues including the potential for nitrogen contamination of wetlands and watercourses on the site due to their proximity to proposed septic systems, and also the potential for environmental damage to wetlands and watercourses due to soil erosion from steep slopes.

In the court appeal, the plaintiff states that the design for its second version of Hattertown Place submitted for IWC review made various changes to the initial application that had been recommended by IWC members and also by the IWC’s environmental consultant on the project.

Those design changes addressed the environmental issues that the IWC had specified in rejecting the initial subdivision application, according to the developer.

The developer charges that IWC members’ March rejection of a wetlands permit for the project disregarded substantial evidence that the proposed construction would improve environmental conditions on the site.

The applicant charges that the IWC’s listing potential nitrogen contamination of wetlands and watercourses on the site as a reason for rejecting the latest application amounts to using “vague and ambiguous standards not included in its [wetlands] regulations.”

The lawsuit claims there is no substantial evidence to support either the nitrogen contamination issue or the soil erosion issue that the IWC listed in rejecting a wetlands permit for the proposed subdivision.

Through the lawsuit, the developer seeks to have a judge order the IWC issue a wetlands permit for Hattertown Place. The town has an April 21 court return date in the case.

Residents who live near the site proposed for new home construction had raised a variety of concerns about the development application when the matter was pending before the P&Z in February 2008. Those issues included traffic safety regarding motorist sight lines and school bus travel, as well as stormwater drainage control, water quality preservation, and open space access.