Following 11 weeks of regulatory review, the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) this week approved a wetlands/watercourses protection permit for an industrial firm in Hawleyville that wants to expand its business at a site with some swampy areas.

At a July 26 meeting, IWC members voted unanimously to approve the permit for Hilario's Service Center, Inc, 131 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6), which operates heavy wreckers and also repairs commercial vehicles. Voting in favor were IWC Chairman Sharon Salling, Michael McCabe, Suzanne Guidera, and John Davin.

IWC members placed many conditions on the approval, when considering the development site's proximity to wetlands.

The permit approval requires that inoperable commercial vehicles and assorted debris, which is located behind the firm's existing facilities near a wetland, be removed from the area, and that various "wetland mitigation" measures be taken, as specified in a landscaping plan for the project. That work will include removing an amount of gravel which, in the past, had been dumped into a swampy area. The reclaimed swamp holding relatively shallow water would then be planted with aquatic vegetation to reestablish its former characteristics.

The applicant also must adhere to the specifics of a sedimentation/erosion control plan and a site development plan for the construction project. Additionally, the applicant must meet eight procedural conditions involving construction practices.

In response to environmental concerns mentioned by Mr McCabe, IWC members placed an additional condition on operations at the proposed expanded business. No vehicles or debris may be stored on a gravel driveway near a proposed warehouse, which would be situated next to a wetland.

Mr McCabe repeatedly has questioned the wisdom of having a gravel surface for that driveway, instead of an impervious paved and curbed surface, when considering the driveway's closeness to a wetland and the prospect of automotive fluids, which are leaking out from various damaged stored vehicles, contaminating that wetland, after having drained downward through a porous gravel driveway.

The IWC held three public hearings on the project. At the first two hearings, members of the public raised a range of questions.

Scope Of Project

The expansion project is proposed for 135-139 Mt Pleasant Road property, which lies generally west and south of 131 Mt Pleasant Road. The addresses total 5.66 acres. The proposed development would alter 3.95 acres of the overall site.

Hilario's specializes in the recovery of trucks, trailers, and various other commercial vehicles that have been involved in accidents and other incidents. The firm provides towing and hauling services, plus the storage of recovered cargo from commercial vehicles. It has a service shop for commercial vehicle repairs and also has vehicles that respond to make repairs in the field. The firm has been in business since 1976.

Under the expansion proposal, a one-story, 11,500-square-foot commercial vehicle service shop would be constructed, as would a one-story, 15,200-square-foot warehouse. The warehouse would include a wash bay for large commercial vehicles. Also, an existing Hilario's building would be converted for use as a wrecker drivers' lounge. The relocated business would have two new driveways extending from Mt Pleasant Road.Hilario's now requires a special zoning permit for the expansion project from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

The P&Z would conduct a public hearing on the project, addressing various topics that are not under the IWC's relatively narrow jurisdiction. P&Z review includes matters such as compliance with applicable zoning regulations, traffic, vehicle parking, site access, noise, nighttime illumination, and business hours, among many others.

A number of the questions that Hawleyville residents raised at the first IWC public hearing involved zoning matters. The IWC thus referred those people to the P&Z on those topics.