On Thursday, December 4, Newtown Planning & Zoning Commission heard five applications. One of those applications was a continuation of application 25.25 by Civil 1 for the construction of two athletic fields, a club house (which includes a snack bar, patio, and locker rooms), and associated parking at 90 Mt Pleasant Road.

At the November 6 meeting, the commission and applicants were both surprised by a petition to intervene filed by Pat Napolitano and Whippoorwill Hill Road LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company that owns the abutting property. The petition to intervene and a petition for a supermajority vote were filed with the Land Use Agency at 4 pm on Wednesday, November 5.

After a brief back and forth as to whether or not the commission should keep the public hearing open to allow Steven Trinkaus, the proposed intervenor, to give his testimony, the commission decided to keep the hearing open to allow Trinkaus to address the commission.

At the December 4 meeting, Chair David Rosen informed the public that the commission has granted Trinkaus’ status as an intervenor and first allowed the applicant to comment.

Attorney John Knuff, recently retained due to the “intervention that was filed at the eleventh hour,” represented the applicant. He explained that he would allow Trinkaus to speak and then he will respond at the next meeting. Rosen said that was “reasonable.”

Knuff also reminded the commission of a few things: “You cannot rule on any environmental matter that you wouldn’t typically rule on … You are not a wetlands agency, you have one of those, and they already have approved our application … It is the intervenor’s burden, the intervenor’s burden, to demonstrate that there is a reasonable likelihood of unreasonable pollution.” He added that the intervenor’s testimony will be “a lot of generalizations” and “what ifs.”

Rosen agreed with Knuff on process and said that the commission, ultimately, does need to make a decision and keep things moving.

Commissioner Don Mitchell added that interventions filed under Connecticut General Statute 22a-19 are “limited to matters that are protected under the environmental protection act.” He added that historic assets are another component of this statute, but not neighborhood character. He explained that the intervenors were limited to pollution in their testimony.

With that explanation out of the way, Rosen then invited the intervenors to speak.

The Intervenors’ Perspective

The intervenors, Pat Napolitano and Whippoorwill Hill Road, LLC, retained Steven Trinkaus as an engineer and attorney Joe Mortelliti for their cause.

Mortelliti agreed that environmental issues “are what’s relevant under … regulation,” but he pointed to some case laws that scenic and visual impacts can be included in the petition to intervene.

Mortelliti then called on Trinkaus to present his testimony.

Trinkaus said, “There’s many engineering issues cited in my review, and quite honestly, do not comply with the applicable standards of care. And those, whether they’re environmental or not, have to be addressed by the applicant.”

He first discussed the stormwater management system design on this application. He said the design “falls woefully short” in terms of what Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and the Municipal Stormwater Permit maps out for engineers to follow. He then went over the stormwater management system in depth, discussing issues he found within the applicant’s application.

“Bottom line is there will be an environmental impact because increased pollutant loads over time change the water quality in the receiving system,” Trinkaus said. “The other environmental issue here is really the turf fields themselves.”

He shared that consumers are not entirely sure of what the infill material is and what the environmental impacts could be, especially because the material used by the manufacturer the applicant plans to use, 10K material, is newer and had no information about outside environmental impacts on its website, as Trinkaus pointed out. He noted that the turf fields that were studied were indoors, and therefore did not have the information as to outdoor impact.

“When turf fields first came out … we were told, as the public, that [crumb rubber infill] is fine, it’s not a problem … Well fast forward 15 years from where we are today, crumb rubber is a serious environmental problem in turf fields,” Trinkaus shared. He noted that the rubber becomes airborne after being crushed by cleats. He also shared that microplastics get discharged into stormwater management systems from run-off.

He said that, in his “professional opinion,” the commission is being asked to “take a huge leap of environmental faith.” Trinkaus also questioned what the temperature of the fields was during the day, as the rubber gets very hot from the sun, noting that it can reach 120-140 degrees. He noted that those temperatures “will burn you,” especially if a soccer player slides. Trinkaus also discussed the soil on the site, noting that it is possible that a landslide could happen on the site because of the grade and soil type.

“There’s many technical issues … all of these engineering issues have to be addressed,” Trinkaus said. He pointed out a ten foot difference on the plan regarding the parking lot, and shared that when he sees mistakes like that, he questions what else could be wrong on the plan.

He wrapped up his comments by saying that he does not think an intervention is a “one and done” deal, he has seen several interventions go back and forth between intervenors and applicants.

Rosen thanked Trinkaus for his comments and invited commissioners to speak. Rosen was the first to ask a question, and he asked, “Regarding the turf fields, now I assume we have several in town, right? And those, of course, have not come in front of the commission for a variety of reasons. Is it, your opinion, it’s just this manufacturer being a new manufacturer or could there be potential issues with those fields in town?”

Trinkaus said, “Well, I think we know that crumb rubber infill is an environmental problem for several reasons … I also know that some of my colleagues have sons that [play] soccer/football, and one slid on the field and got a staph infection. You don’t get that on grass.” He added that the tires that get recycled for the crumb rubber infill, while the metal does get pulled out, “you’re always left with the film of zinc where wires were, and zinc gets leeched out because the rubber gets ground up.”

“My concern with the 10K material is, we don’t know what it is, we don’t know what the environmental impacts are. It’s an unknown,” Trinkaus said.

Commissioner Connie Widmann asked if this was the same material being used in national leagues around the country. Trinkaus admitted he could not answer that and that 10K material has only been tested indoors.

Mortelliti explained that Trinkaus’ letter has several points that are specific to this application and fall within general statute 22a-19. After Mortelliti “encouraged the commission to study” the letter, he brought up points of air pollution and noise pollution, between decibels from construction noise and crowds.

Public Comment, Knuff Responds

Rosen then opened the floor for public comment. Only one person came forward: Darryl Newman from Planter’s Choice. Newman explained he is a horticulturist and told the commission he is willing to submit his expert testimony if needed, and expressed his support for the application.

After Newman’s comments, Rosen invited the applicant to make “final comments” for this meeting.

Knuff said, “Nothing that we’ve heard and nothing that you’ve read is at all troubling to us … I’ve read numerous reports by Mr Trinkaus — they are all the same … Every report says the same thing, and it amazes me that dozens of well-qualified, professional engineers across the state of Connecticut are making all the same mistakes! And they’re not, they are not. The sky is not falling … We will respond, in detail, to every comment made. We are not troubled in the least by any comments [from] Mr Trinkaus, or any of the other experts.”

Following Knuff’s response, Rosen entertained a motion to continue the public hearing on Thursday, January 15, at 7 pm in the Council Chambers of Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.