Wendover Road Residents Challenge

Farmer’s Blueberry Proposal

By Andrew Gorosko

A local farmer’s proposal to grow blueberries and bare-root nursery plants on an undeveloped lot on Wendover Road has drawn organized opposition from residents there, who express fears that it would adversely affect the area.

Farmer James Shortt, the proprietor of Shortt’s Farm and Garden Center on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook, wants to use land at 18 Wendover Road owned by his wife, Susanne, to grow the plants. The undeveloped four-acre lot holds an extensive, densely wooded red maple swamp and is categorized as a wetland. The lot abuts the Hawley School property. The Shortt land is on the east side of Wendover Road, near its intersection with Schoolhouse Hill Road, in the town center.

The Shortt proposal was the subject of a public session held by the Conservation Commission August 27. The Conservation Commission serves as the local wetlands agency. About a dozen Wendover Road residents attended. The Conservation Commission fielded public comments on Mr Shortt’s proposal because Wendover Road residents formally demanded that the matter be publicly aired.

Conservation Official C. Stephen Driver said Mr Shortt wants to clear about one acre of the parcel to grow the plants in the wetland. State law allows farmers to farm in wetlands without needing to obtain Conservation Commission approval, provided that the farmer can document that the property to be used is part of the farmer’s farm, Mr Driver said. A farmer cannot, however, alter the characteristics of the wetland in conducting such farming, Mr Driver added. Changing the wetlands’ characteristics would require the farmer to obtain a formal wetlands permit from the Conservation Commission, Mr Driver said.

Mr Shortt explained that he is an organic farmer who does not use pesticides. “We work with nature. We don’t work against it. There are no pesticides,” he said.

Costas Thanasoulis of 6 Wendover Road said, “My main concern is the unknown.” Mr Thanasoulis asked whether a one-acre farming operation would eventually expand into a larger operation on the site. He also raised concerns about traffic and the prospect of pesticide use. He added that he has small children.

“I’m concerned about the unknown,” Mr Thanasoulis stressed.

Attorney Gregory Cava of Bridgeport, representing Rick LaBash and Michele Assante of 16 Wendover Road, has entered the matter as a legal intervenor on his clients’ behalf. The lawyer challenged the Conservation Commission’s placement of time limits on public comment on the Shortt proposal, saying that time is needed to verbally create a public record, which may serve as the basis for future court appeals.

Mr Cava questioned Mr Shortt’s proposal to cut trees on the property and challenged whether what the farmer would be doing there would constitute “farming.” Tree cutting would have adverse affects on the area, the lawyer said.

 Mr Cava said the commission must require Mr Shortt to follow its formal wetland permit application process. In order to use the land, Mr Shortt would need to build a driveway there, constituting activity that would require such a permit, Mr Cava said. The lawyer posed many technical questions about Mr Shortt’s proposal, including queries about stormwater runoff, pollution due to fertilizer use, and how birds would be kept away from blueberry bushes. Mr Cava also raised questions about groundwater, domestic water wells, and property ownership.

Mr Shortt told Conservation Commission members he will get documentation from the state Department of Agriculture and from the state Department of Environmental Protection to substantiate his right to use the Wendover Road property for farming.

Mr Driver said he will refer the Shortt proposal to the town attorney for advice on how the Conservation Commission should handle the matter, including whether Mr Shortt needs to make a formal wetlands permit application to the commission.

“This has become legal matter,” Mr Driver said.