The developer of a major industrial/commercial project proposed for a sprawling site in Hawleyville, near Exit 9 of Interstate 84, has reworked its construction proposal, an earlier version of which received a wetlands protection permit in July. The new version of the project significantly increases the overall amount of construction proposed and alters the mix of uses.

In a proposal received by the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) on December 12, developer Hawleyville Properties LLC proposes the construction of 583,500 square feet of enclosed space at an approximately 140-acre site. The application proposes the construction of four structures, including three warehouses and one medical office building, plus related parking facilities. The proposed buildings would enclose about 13.4 acres of space.

The development is proposed for abutting undeveloped parcels at 10 Hawleyville Road, 90 Mount Pleasant Road, and 1 Sedor Lane. The steep, rugged terrain contains extensive wooded wetlands and areas with very dense to impenetrable brush.

As currently proposed, the project would contain a 336,000-square-foot warehouse that would include 20,000 square feet of office space; a 137,500-square-foot warehouse that would include 10,000 square feet of office space; a 20,000-square-foot warehouse; and a three-story medical office building containing a total of 90,000 square feet of enclosed space.

The 583,500-square-foot complex would be the largest project of its kind ever developed locally.

In July, Hawleyville Properties received a wetlands protection permit from the IWC for a 490,000-square-foot version of the project. That version initially had been proposed as a 525,000-square-foot project but was reduced in size by the developer after IWC members said a 525,000-square-foot project would adversely affect wetlands on the site. The 490,000-square-foot project, which was approved by the IWC in July, included one 250,000-square-foot warehouse and three medical offices buildings totaling 240,000 square feet in enclosed area.

Based on the mix of uses proposed in the current version of the project, there would be parking spaces provided for 826 vehicles. The previously approved project specified 1,357 parking spaces.

Steve Maguire, the town’s senior land use enforcement officer, said December 19 that he would be studying the detailed development drawings submitted by the applicant. The IWC has scheduled a public hearing on the application for January 9.

The land proposed for development lies within a M-2A (industrial) zone, where warehousing and medical office space are permitted land uses.

According to information submitted by the applicant, 130,857 square feet, or about three acres, of wetlands on the site would be physically altered. Overall, 365,019 square feet, or almost 8.4 acres of the site, would be physically changed.

Also, 63,961 cubic yards of earthen fill would be removed from or deposited in wetlands, and an additional 143,351 cubic yards of fill would be removed from or deposited in adjacent upland review areas.

The 140-acre site contains approximately 15 acres of wetlands and 31 acres of adjacent “upland review areas,” both of which are subject to IWC review.

The application states that the proposed buildings would be constructed and the associated land grading completed by “approximately 2020.”

BL Companies of Meriden is listed as the developer’s technical consultant for the project.

Vehicular access to the site would be provided via a road extending onto the property from the east side of Hawleyville Road. That road would be situated across Hawleyville Road from Hawleyville Road’s intersection with Covered Bridge Road. Town officials have said they expect that such a four-way intersection would be controlled by a traffic signal.

The development proposal calls for creating a large relatively flat area on the sloped site where the four buildings and associated parking lots would be built.

Philip Clark, president of Claris Construction Inc, which is participating in the project, said this week that there are not yet any committed tenants for the proposed development. Brokers for the project are marketing it to both medical and industrial firms, he added.

Mr Clark said that southbound traffic traveling on Hawleyville Road, near the proposed entrance to the site, would continue moving toward Mount Pleasant Road via a southbound bypass lane at the intersection. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) is reviewing the traffic patterns that the development would create to ensure compliance with traffic regulations, he said. Both Hawleyville Road (Route 25) and Mount Pleasant Road (Routes 6 & 25) are state roads.

If the current version of the industrial/commercial project gains a wetlands protection permit from the IWC, it would also require approvals from the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z).

The sprawling site has long been eyed by local officials as a suitable place for local economic development, when considering the property’s proximity to an interstate highway interchange. The town’s 2016 expansion of the Hawleyville sanitary sewer system was intended to spark economic development in that area.

The site is bordered on the north by eastbound I-84 and its Exit 9 on-ramp, on the northeast by agricultural open space land, on the southeast by the residential Whippoorwill Hill Road, on the south by Mount Pleasant Road, and on the west by Hawleyville Road. The site’s steep, rugged terrain and extensive wetlands are considered to be factors that have deterred its development until now.