Quarry Ridge Estates Couple Challenges Lumberyard Approval

By Andrew Gorosko

A Quarry Ridge Estates couple, who lives near the site for which the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has approved a wholesale lumberyard, has filed a court appeal in seeking to have a judge nullify that approval.

In a lawsuit filed October 13 in Danbury Superior Court, Joshua G. Drew and Jennifer L. Drew of 11 Quarry Ridge Road sue the P&Z and lumberyard applicant Stock Building Supply, Inc.

Through the civil action, the Drews seek to have a judge invalidate the P&Z’s September 21 approval of the lumberyard and also nullify the special permit that the P&Z granted to the applicant.

On September 21, the P&Z unanimously approved Stock’s application to create a wholesale lumberyard on Turnberry Lane in Curtis Corporate Park, off Toddy Hill Road in Sandy Hook. The lumberyard site is at #2 and #6 Turnberry Lane.

The P&Z placed numerous conditions on its lumberyard approval, some of which stemmed from comments on the application that were made by residents of the adjacent 20-lot Quarry Ridge Estates residential subdivision. The P&Z held public hearings on the project on August 3 and August 17.

Both the industrial park and the residential subdivision are located on a mined-out expanse of land that was formerly quarried by Newtown Sand & Gravel. The P&Z approved the industrial park in January 2001, and then approved Quarry Ridge Estates in March 2002.

Stock proposes converting the 30,184-square-foot building that has been used as a furniture warehouse by La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries for lumberyard use, as well as construct lumber storage structures on an adjacent lot. The lumber storage facilities would lie to the east and southeast of what has been the La-Z-Boy warehouse.

In their court appeal, the Drews charge that the P&Z “acted illegally, arbitrarily and in abuse of the discretion vested in it by law.” The plaintiffs claim that the P&Z approved the application for reasons that are unsupported by the facts of the application, by the zoning regulations, and by state law.

The Drews allege that the P&Z did not specifically find that the applicant had met each of the many standards and criteria required to receive a special permit. The Drews also charge that the P&Z should have required the applicant to perform a formal traffic study on the traffic-flow implications of a lumberyard.

The 5.5-acre development site has M-4 (Industrial) zoning, where a lumberyard is a permitted land use. The site is in the environmentally sensitive Aquifer Protection District (APD), where various developmental safeguards are in force to prevent the degradation of the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer. The aquifer is the source of two local public drinking water supplies.

Stock, which is based in North Carolina, sells building supplies and tools to contractors. The firm operates more than 250 outlets in 30 states. The majority of Stock’s business involves the sale and delivery of building materials to contractors. Other business involves customers who would drive to the site.

Quarry Ridge Estates residents who attended the two public hearings on the lumberyard application focused on issues including noise, traffic flow, nighttime lighting, sun glare, fencing, and lumber storage.

The nearest house in the Quarry Ridge Estates subdivision is about 260 feet away from the area where the lumberyard noise would be generated.

At an August 17 public hearing on the lumberyard, Quarry Ridge Estates residents expressed concerns about a lumberyard’s negative effects on the neighborhood, including the degradation of residential character due to industrial noise and increased truck traffic in the area.

At an August 3 public hearing, nearby residents’ comments focused on nighttime illumination levels, noise, and the appearance of a lumberyard. 

Attorney Sutherland W.G. Denlinger represents the Drews in the court action. Attorney Robert Fuller represents the P&Z.

The P&Z has a November 14 court return date on the Drews’ appeal.