Approximately 40 residents went before the Inland Wetlands Commission on March 13 to express concerns with water runoff from a proposed 117 single-family home development at 20-60 Castle Hill Road.

The site is located on 136 acres. The preserved portion includes all of the land surrounding Taunton Lake. Attorney Thomas Beecher of SLR Consulting spoke on behalf of developer George Trudell, who could not be in attendance. Trudell, alongside 20-60 Castle Hill Road property owner Joseph Draper, have been developing the project for nearly a year.

Beecher last week said the plan includes a permanent deed restriction of 84.7 acres, which will preserve 62% of the site. This would leave 41 of the remaining 51 acres to be disturbed over six phases of construction.

Newtown resident and Newtown Forest Association board member Bob Eckenrode opened public participation. He said NFA believes the current application “does not provide an adequate storm water management system to sufficiently protect inland wetlands on their downgradient property, the treasured Nettleton Preserve on 13 Castle Hill Road.”

Eckenrode emphasized that Nettleton is a fragile nature preserve of 26 acres with a 50-year-old orchard that includes Sandy Hook memorial trees, meadows, wetlands, and public trails, and provides valuable habitat to animals such as the New England cottontail, wild turkey, and various wild songbirds.

He continued by saying that there would be a near 50% increase in runoff for each two year event onto Nettleton. This increased runoff would carry harmful pollutants and deposit them into the preservation’s ecosystem, “inflicting irreversible and irretrievable loss” onto the conserved space and its biodiversity, he stated.

While the NFA supports the right for a landowner to develop their property, Eckenrode stressed it must be done in a reasonable manner and not at the expense of neighboring properties. For those reasons, he said the NFA respectfully requests the IWC reject this proposal.

Southbury resident and professional engineer Steve Trinkaus spoke next, representing Newtown Conservation Coalition. He said the application fundamentally does not comply with Borough Zoning Regulations and, in turn, does not comply with the application requirements for the IWC. This is because, he said, state regulations require all wetlands on the entire parcel be delineated along with steep slopes, utilities, and stone walls. Trinkaus said this has not been done.

He also took issue with how the applicant, to his understanding, stated at the previous public hearing that low-impact development (LID) “is just a buzzword.”

IWC Chair Salling eventually interrupted Trinkaus and brought up the public hearing guidelines, specifically the time limit of three minutes per speaker, and that only questions relating to wetlands and watercourses could be considered.

Trinkaus redirected his focus back to watercourses and talked about his concerns with the current plan. These included the presented storm water basins not meeting the DEEP criteria of 80% total suspended solids, and that the applicant did not have metals in their analysis for the drainage areas. He said that with roadways or parking lots, there will always be metals that come from cars, brake dust, and tire wear.

“Bottom line is this application should be denied,” Trinkaus said. “And in my professional opinion, we need to strive to make things better and reduce the impacts on our environment if we want to have a place to live.”

Sandy Hook resident Dave Ackert continued public comment by thanking both the community for getting Trinkaus involved and the IWC for continuing the public hearing and giving him a chance to speak. Ackert showed everyone an I Brake for Salamanders sticker he was given, because people have reported seeing the spotted salamander near the entrance driveway to the property.

He also showed off a picture of a young lady holding an eastern box turtle found at the bottom of the driveway that enters the property.

Ackert said the eastern box turtle, alongside the spotted salamander, depend on clean and accessible wetlands and waterways in order to move around. He called for an environmental impact study of the project to properly assess how the animals are being impacted. If the National Diversity Data Base (NDDB) were to review the project, they would also recommend a management plan, he said.

“I respectfully ask the Commission to deny this project until the study has been submitted,” Ackert said.

Responses

In response to Trinkaus’ statements, Beecher said if there were any significant defects with the stormwater management plan or runoff as claimed at the meeting, Tighe & Bond, the engineering and environmental consulting firm hired by the IWC to review the application, would have let them know.

Beecher also did not think Trinkaus’ negative comments on SLR Consulting Principal Soil Scientist Megan Raymond’s discussion of LID at the last meeting were “called for.” He added that the 2004 CT State Stormwater Quality manual is just a guideline, but it is subject to the professional opinion of the project engineer.

Todd Ritchie, a professional engineer with SLR Consulting, said they have previously responded to Trinkaus’ comments in the response letters. As far as the NFA property, he said that they are reducing flow rate onto the property for all storms by 30%.

Ritchie added to Beecher’s statement on the stormwater quality manual, saying they have met those criteria, that Tighe & Bond agreed to their application, and that their plans are “acceptable and compliant.”

Raymond then took the mic to say that the property has not been mapped as a critical habitat area, nor have there been any known sightings of state listed species.

Besides the aforementioned wetlands, she believes there will not be any permanent impact to the wetlands or watercourses on or off-site, including the vernal pool.

Beecher concluded by reiterating that Trudell and Draper have deep roots in Newtown and are not some out-of-state developer swooping in just to make a quick buck and leave. He said that between everyone’s suggestions and the input from Tighe & Bond, the project is “better now and it is one that will not have any significant impact on the wetlands or water forces on or off the site.”

“I’m sure everyone understands that this 136 acre parcel is going to be developed in some way,” Beecher continued. “In closing, again we want to thank you for your attention, your having to read through all the material that you received, and we would ask you to please approve this application with the proposed conditions.”

He also noted that much of the proposed development is on existing farmland, meaning most of the forest canopy on the site is going to be preserved.

“We filed this application on November 8,” Beecher said. “Here we are on March 13. This application was not rushed along by anyone.”

Moving on to summarize their wetlands analysis, Beecher said 73% of the wetland review area “will not be disturbed in any way.” Most proposed disturbances he says would occur “at least 50 feet away” from the aforementioned area and that out of 3.72 acres of wetlands, only a little over 1% will be disturbed.

IWC Chair Salling said the public hearing for the application had reached its time limit, and that no additional extensions can be granted. While the IWC motioned to close the public hearing, they still have time to deliberate and discuss the cluster-home project at their next regular meeting on Wednesday, March 27.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.