By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) at its Dec. 4 meeting continued two public hearings, discussed possible regulation changes at Tyler Cove, and obtained a permit for unauthorized excavation on Middlebury Road.
At its Nov. 6 meeting, the commission approved renewal of an excavation and grading permit for Middlebury Land Development LLC for Benson Woods and a Quassy Amusement Park site-plan modification to add a snack bar, candy store, two water slides and a new maintenance building. Also, in response to a request from attorney Stephen Savarese, they agreed to write a letter to the Connecticut Siting Council opposing the proposed CPV Towantic Energy Center at Oxford Airport that would be 500 feet from the Middlebury town line.
In December, the commission continued until Jan. 8 a decision on changes to Section 22.7 of the zoning regulations for calculating the resale of affordable housing in the Brookside development. Town attorney Dana D’Angelo requested the continuance, saying written comments from the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (COG) had not yet been received. The commission had decided at its November meeting it would allow surrounding towns to comment on the proposed changes before proceeding.
The affordable housing regulations, originally worded for the Steeplechase subdivision, were applied to Brookside in 2003. Attorney Michael McVerry told commissioners in November it took about eight months to sell such a house last year because the formula in the Brookside property declaration was not part of the regulations. D’Angelo said her proposed change would clean up the wording and tie it to Connecticut state statutes. The change also would broaden the definition of moderate income from the Waterbury metropolitan statistical area to the more general Litchfield and New Haven County statistics.
Also continued until Jan. 8 was a public hearing for a special exception for a 4-foot-by-8-foot sign at the former Golden Age of Trucking Museum at 1067 Southford Road because the new owner, Dr. Dean Yimoyines, d/b/a JSD Partners LLC, did not appear. At the November meeting, commissioners approved a change in use to warehouse and retail space. Yimoyines told commissioners the majority of the building would be used by Middlebury Consignment as warehouse space to process shipping and receiving, with some sales made out of the front of the building. He was told at that meeting to apply for a special exception for the sign, which he said was needed to guide people to the building.
In an informal discussion with commissioners, D’Angelo said McVerrry advised her that residents of the 38-unit Tyler Cove Association would be seeking to change the zoning regulations applicable to their Lake Quassapaug condominium community. She said this might be a good time for the commission to review and possibly clean up controversial parts of the Lake Quassapaug Preservation District regulating the nearby West Shore Homeowners Association (WSHA). The preservation district, known as Section 25 in the zoning regulations, was adopted in November 2013 for the 26-unit WSHA to permit limited cottage expansions, but those regulations were later said to be flawed by commissioner Erika Carrington and others because of inconsistencies in the “before” and “after” calculations used to determine square footage.
Those inconsistencies were discussed at the November meeting when commissioners denied without prejudice an application to expand a 1,161-square-foot seasonal cottage at 2 West Lake Road on Lake Quassapaug. Commissioners were assured by WSHA president John Butkus that sewer and water capacities for additional expansions were adequate and had been approved by all necessary entities, but Carrington questioned the percentage of expansion in the application, saying it was absurd to include the square footage of a porch in the “before” calculations and not use them in the “after” calculations.
In other business, town planner Brian Miller said maps from COG still needed to be incorporated into the long-awaited Plan of Conservation and Development. He suggested a public hearing in the first months of 2015 would give commissioners a chance to make corrections and final suggestions. In procedural matters, a form for acknowledgment of the recently adopted town code of ethics was distributed to each commissioner for signature.
In enforcement matters, Zoning Enforcement Officer Curt Bosco said he had spoken to District Manager Jack Starr about excavation work at the Shell station on 520 Middlebury Road owned by Wesson Energy. He said Starr didn’t think soil remediation work required a permit and immediately filed an application with a $250 fee when he was told it did. Bosco said lead contamination found buried at the site was primarily from old paint cans and discarded equipment.
The next regular P&Z meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center.
