October 15, 2008
Chairman Hiscox called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was taped.
Members Present: Robert Hiscox, Donald Pomeroy, Al Havican,
Alternates Present: Jack Crumb, G. Graveline
Absent: Al Delelle, Greg Ploski, Ed Miller (Alt.)
Also Present: Bill Donovan, Land Use Inspector
J. Crumb was seated for A. Delelle. G. Graveline was seated for G. Ploski
Approval of Minutes: Motion by A. Havican, seconded by D. Pomeroy to approve the October 1, 2008 minutes. Unanimous.
Correspondence:
1) John Dyckman, President, Prospect Land Trust - e-mail dated 10-1-08 requesting additional
time in order to make a final decision on the possibility of acquiring the open space proposed
at 99 Union City Road.
2) Planning & Zoning Clerk - letter dated 10-15-08 to set meeting dates for 2009.
3) UCONN, Center for Land Use Education and Research - Upcoming Events
Chairman Hiscox noted for the record that the correspondence received from Land Trust President, John Dyckman, will be added to the file for the proposed industrial subdivision at 99 Union City Road.
Motion by D. Pomeroy, seconded by G. Graveline to accept the correspondence. Unanimous.
Public Participation: None
New Business:
a. Ken Faroni, O & G Industries, Inc. - 2 Year Renewal of Special Permit. Ken Faroni appeared and submitted an Application for a 2 Year Renewal of Special Permit, the application fee, topographical maps, phased mining plans, a Reclamation Plan, Certificate of Insurance, a performance bond in the amount of $377,000.00, 4 photographs of the property, and a list of abutting property owners. Mr. Faroni noted that a complaint log was not submitted due to the fact that no complaints had been received probably due to the fact that there wasn’t any blasting done in the last two years. Mr. Faroni stated that blasting will start again shortly. Chairman Hiscox asked the commission if there were any questions for Mr. Faroni. With no further comment, Motion by A. Havican, seconded by G. Graveline to accept the application submitted by O & G Industries, Inc., 147 Salem Road, for a 2 year renewal of their Special Permit and set a public hearing for November 5, 2008 at 7:10 p.m. Unanimous.
b. Leonard & Janine Candela, 87 Coachlight Circle - Special Permit Application for a Home Occupation: Medical Billing & Insurance Patient Advocate. Janine Candela appeared before the commission and stated that she wanted to use a portion of her home for an office. She stated that she will be a patient advocate for people who need help dealing with medical billing and insurance issues. Mrs. Candela stated that she will be the only employee, would not have any customers or service providers coming to her home and will not have any commercial vehicles. With no further comments, Motion by D. Pomeroy, seconded by A. Havican to accept the application from Leonard & Janine Candela, 87 Coachlight Circle for a Special Permit for a Home Occupation: Medical Billing & Insurance Patient Advocate and set a public hearing for November 5, 2008 at 7:15 p.m. Unanimous.
Approve Meeting Dates for 2009: Motion by D. Pomeroy, seconded by G. Graveline to approve the proposed meeting dates for 2009. Unanimous.
Public Hearings:
Chairman Hiscox read into record the “Notice of Public Hearings” for the public hearings as it appeared in the Republican American on October 3rd and October 10th, 2008.
7:10 p.m. Antonio Biello, 14 Lombard Drive - Application for a 1-lot re-subdivision - Gary Giordano, Professional Engineer & Land Surveyor, LLC, 19 Terrell Farm Road, Bethlehem, CT appeared on behalf of the applicant and presented the commission with a revised plan. Mr. Giordano stated that the plan was revised to add Sediment and Erosion controls. Mr. Giordano stated the property is comprised of 3.411 acres in an RA-1 zone on the westerly side of Lombard Drive. He further stated that the proposed subdivision is named “Biello Estates” and will be a front and rear lot, both of which meet current zoning regulations. Mr. Giordano stated that there are no wetlands on this property but there is a small portion of wetlands on the back lot’s adjoining property. The Inland Wetlands Commission has already reviewed this project and determined that there are no impacts to wetlands or watercourses and therefore an Inland Wetland permit is not required and a letter to that effect has already been submitted. Mr. Giordano further stated that he is still awaiting Chesprocott Health District approval and hopes to have an approval letter for the next meeting. He also stated that he would turn in the certificates of mailing to the abutting property owners at the next meeting. Chairman Hiscox asked about open space and Mr. Giordano stated that his client wished to pay a fee in lieu of providing open space according to the subdivision regulations and that an appraisal on the property was submitted. Chairman Hiscox read through the appraisal and stated that the subject lot has a market value of $175,000.00 and therefore the 10% fee in lieu of open space would be $17,500.00. Chairman Hiscox asked the public for any for comments. R. Rek, 13 Lombard Drive stated concern about where the driveway entrance would be and if it would increase runoff as he is located on the low side of the road and there is already a drainage problem. Mr. Giordano reviewed the access way and grading on his plan with Mr. Rek and stated that there will be no additional runoff. H. Petruccelli, 18 Lombard Drive who lives adjacent to proposed Lot #1, asked where the driveway of Lot #1 will be and then stated concern over how close the proposed driveway will be to her driveway and asked what the distance requirement was between two driveways. Mrs. Petrucelli also stated concern that the new proposed house is directly behind her house and asked how far back from her property line it would need to be. Land Use Inspector Bill Donovan stated that the driveways must be at least 5-feet apart and a 50 foot front yard setback would be required for a house put on proposed Lot #1 . Bill asked Mr. Giordano if his plan showed roof liters and drainage discharge. Mr. Giordano stated that the site plan shows rechargers and that the roof liters and footing drains will go into a buried Cultec recharger and will flow away from Mrs. Petrucelli’s property. G. Graveline asked if the site plan shows the existing lot as is and Mr. Giordano responded that Mr. Biello owns property to the north of the proposed lots and a lot line revision will be done after the subdivision’s approval and all of the lots involved will still meet the current regulations and will not create any non-conformity. Chairman Hiscox asked for any further comments. With no response he continued the public hearing until November 5, 2008 at 7:20 p.m.
7:15 p.m. G. & G. Trust, Et Al - Proposed 5-Lot Industrial Subdivision for 99 Union City Road (continued from 9/3/08) - Sergio Viera, project engineer for R.J. Desrosiers and Associates appeared on behalf of the applicants. Mr. Viera stated that new plans had been provided which addressed all of the Town’s consulting engineer’s concern and also provided a letter from The Connecticut Water Company stating that they would prefer grass swales to rip rap swales. Land Use Inspector Bill Donovan asked Mr. Viera that since everyone had just received the plans tonight if he could briefly outline the revised plans. Mr. Viera stated that as to the concern brought up at the last public hearing, slope limits in buildable areas do not apply to industrial zoned land as per town regulations so there are no buildable areas on the updated plans. Mr. Viera stated that the owners of the property have decided the subdivision will be a public road which will be built to meet the town’s regulations for industrial roads. He further stated that as to the drainage concerns that were brought up there will be a negative impact on all of the lower parts of the project and that any site development plan of the lots in the future will have to come before the Planning & Zoning Commission. Bill asked Mr. Viera if the lot configurations had changed and Mr. Viera responded that they had not, only the road design based on the recommendations of the consulting engineer. Chairman Hiscox asked for comments from the public. Bill mentioned that if this public hearing needs to be continued until after the November 5th hearing, a 30 day extension will be needed from the applicant. G. Graveline asked about open space and Chairman Hiscox stated that the Land Trust has notified Planning & Zoning that they are interested in the proposed open space but the access way has to be more fully investigated and discussed. D. Pomeroy asked what the percentage of open space land is. Mr. Viera stated that it is 10% or 3.18-acres. A. Stein, Cook Road, member of the Land Trust stated that having walked the property the Land Trust is very interested in protecting this piece of property and working with the developer regarding safe access and working with the open space plan looking at the parcel as an Aquifer and possible future linkage. With no further comments, Chairman Hiscox continued the public hearing until November 5, 2008 at 7:40 p.m.
7:40 p.m. Arlene Gedraitis, 90 Cook Road - Application for a 1-lot re-subdivision. Nancy Levesque of NET Engineering, LLC appeared on behalf of the applicant. D. Pomeroy asked if the plan had been updated since it was submitted and Ms. Levesque stated that it had not been updated. Ms. Levesque submitted proof of mailings to the abutters and stated that the existing property is almost 14-acres and the proposal is to keep 3-acres with the existing house and an 11-acre second lot for sale. She further stated that the Regional Water Authority had been notified and the applicants are awaiting word from them. She also stated that the applicants met with the Land Trust earlier tonight and will be working with them to create a plan for open space. She stated that the adjacent Ridgewood Club may be subdivided in the future and stated the possibility of tying this open space into potential future open space of Ridgewood which will then tie into the Finno property open space at 80 Cook Road. Chairman Hiscox asked that they please pay close attention to the regulations and stated that he liked the idea of the long term goal of combining open space lands. He further asked for a sketch including the applicant’s property, the Ridgewood property and Finno’s property so the commission can review it. D. Pomeroy asked the size of the Ridgewood property and Ms. Levesque stated she believed it was about 17-acres. J. Crumb asked what the driveway length would be on the 11-acre lot. Ms. Levesque stated that because it has enough road frontage it is not a rear lot and the driveway would be about 600 to 650 sq. ft and will have a turn off area for emergency vehicles. Bill asked the applicant if she had a receipt of notice from the Regional Water Authority. Ms. Levesque said she didn’t have a receipt with her but would look into it and bring it to the next hearing. A. Stein, Cook Road representing the Land Trust stated that this property is a very sensitive watershed area with a headwater that feeds into the Hamden Reservoir and that the Land Trust is very interested in protecting as much of the natural greenway on the back southwest corner of the property as possible with the hope that it would hook up with another greenway in the future. She further stated that the Land Trust will be meeting next week to discuss this property and that they would like to work with the owner and developer to come up with an open space plan. G. Graveline asked if the trail designated on the plan is existing or proposed and Ms. Levesque replied it is an existing trail and easily walkable. G. Graveline also asked if it is possible that the proposed 11-acre lot could be re-subdivided again in the future. Ms. Levesque said she had looked into that possibility but it is not what the owner wishes to do at this time. A future purchaser may try to re-subdivide the property but a costly public road would have to be put in so it may not be cost effective for them to do so. G. Graveline further asked what advantage the Town has by taking this property as open space if it probably will not be developed in the future anyway. Ms. Levesque stated that the proposed open space may become part of a connected greenway in the future. J. Crumb asked if it was possible that the proposed 11-acre lot could be combined with the Ridgewood property for development and has the applicant been approached in that regard. Ms. Levesque stated that no one had approached the applicant regarding this but it is possible. G. Graveline stated concern over the fact that on the plans submitted he cannot see how far reaching the wetlands are. M. Buonaiuto, 92 Cook Road stated concern over a potential road and future development adding traffic to an already congested area going through the area near his house. Ms. Levesque reviewed the plan with Mr. Buonaiuto and showed him that the proposed driveway would be several hundred feet away from his home. Chairman Hiscox asked for any further comments. With no response he continued the public hearing until November 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
8:00 p.m. Regulation Revisions - general discussion (continued from 4/2/08) Bill Donovan outlined the two remaining amendment proposals regarding the sections pertaining to detached garages and commercial greenhouses that the commission had been given several weeks ago for review. Chairman Hiscox asked the commissioners if they wanted to go forward with this discussion tonight and the commissioners replied they did wish to go forward. After commission discussion regarding the section pertaining to detached garages, Motion by D. Pomeroy, seconded by A. Havican to approve the proposed amendment to Section 5.2.2.2 of the Regulations, as amended, and to set an effective date of December 1, 2008. Unanimous. After commission discussion regarding the section pertaining to commercial greenhouses, Motion by A. Havican, seconded by G. Graveline to approve the proposed amendment to Section 4.7 of the Regulations and to set an effective date of December 1, 2008. Unanimous.
Old Business: None
Land Use Inspector’s Report: Bill reported to the commission that with these last two revisions made earlier tonight, after the appeal period expires, he would like to produce an updated regulation manual to incorporate all of the changes made over the past two years. Chairman Hiscox stated that after the Open Space Planning Committee completes their map, the Planning & Zoning Commission will revisit the potential 2-acre zoning question. Bill also gave the commissioners the web address for the Town’s new GIS website, http://host.appgeo.com/prospectct/, and explained some functions and tools which are now available on the website. Chairman Hiscox asked Bill to look into the buildable area question that came up during the public hearing tonight on the proposed industrial subdivision and to follow up on the wraparound sign up at the Shell gas station. He further asked Bill to proceed with the appropriate process regarding the large tri-axle dump truck on Matthew Street. Motion by D. Pomeroy, seconded by A. Havican to accept the Land Use Inspector’s report. Unanimous.
Public Participation: A. Stein, Cook Road stated that Tina Barry, a local Girl Scout, held a guided trail walk this weekend at the trail she designed off of the Summit Heights subdivision called Tina’s Trail. Chairman Hiscox stated that he attended the opening of the trail walk and outlined it’s location and fine points and stated that the Capana’s had donated time and resources to Tina as they stated they would. Mrs. Stein further stated that the Open Space Planning Committee is working with Planmetrics and are now in the final stages of approving their draft Open Space Plan and are hoping to present their plan to the Planning & Zoning Commission soon. She further stated concern over the lack of a required buffer zone between commercial developments and residential property.
Adjournment: Motion by A. Havican, seconded by G. Graveline to adjourn at 8:47 p.m. Unanimous.
Robert Hiscox