Blasting proposal rattles residents

#Middlebury #Blasting

This site map shows the 18.8-acre parcel where rock would be blasted and removed. Applicant Mike Dillon had asked the Waterbury Zoning Commission for a special permit for accessory earth excavation on this property.

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

A proposal to blast and remove rock on 18.8 acres located within 500 feet of the Middlebury/Waterbury town line was first brought to the newspaper’s attention during public comments at the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) hearing on the proposed changes to Exit 17. The Waterbury property, owned by Jean Dillon, Trustee, of Middlebury can be seen on the scan of the project site vicinity map above. The Middlebury/Waterbury town line is a dashed line on the far left, Richardson Drive (called Richardson Street on the map) starts at the top left, and Route 64 angles down from left to right starting on the left side of the map.

At the DOT hearing, Rita Green of Crest Street in Waterbury said the property owner had an application before the Waterbury Zoning Commission for accessory earth excavation for a proposed housing project. She said the excavation would involve extensive blasting and 108 truck trips daily to haul away rock.

Middlebury Zoning Enforcement Officer Curtis Bosco shared with us the conceptual site plan for the project. It shows 18 houses on streets that form a cross shape. It also shows the drive from the subdivision exiting onto Route 64 west of Chase Parkway.

On Sept. 25, the day the application was to go before the Waterbury Zoning Commission, the application was withdrawn. Waterbury Land Use Officer Clifford Brammer said the withdrawal letter stated they do plan to refile shortly, “when they have fully addressed staff’s concerns.”

The withdrawn application, filed by Mike Dillon of Stamford, Connecticut, listed an expected start date of Sept. 1, 2019, and an expected completion date of December 1, 2020, a period of 15 months. It confirmed the 108 truck trips daily Green mentioned and said 166,240 cubic yards of materials would be excavated and removed from the site.

The Town of Middlebury opposes this project. First Selectman Edward B. St. John told the newspaper the project certainly would have serious implications on the neighborhood, mostly on Middlebury residents. “I’m opposed to it because of the impact on our residents,” he said.

Bosco said the town received official notification of the project Aug. 21. He said the project itself is not new; it originally was denied by Waterbury’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission, but the applicant took the denial to court and in April a judge ruled in the applicant’s favor.

Bosco said when notices of the current application went out, he got many calls from residents on Richardson Drive asking for help. He said, “We’re going to do everything we can to oppose this … We will continue to work feverishly to protect the interests of our residents.”

The town attorney drew up a resolution by the Middlebury Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) that made clear the commission’s opposition to the project in its current form. The resolution calls for the following: a traffic study by a certified traffic engineer, more details on the blasting and onsite processing of earthen material, and a complete site plan proposal for the proposed housing project.

That resolution was unanimously adopted by the Middlebury P&Z at its Sept. 5 meeting and was sent to the Waterbury Zoning Commission. Now, however, Middlebury P&Z will have to consider the new application once it is filed and then take whatever action it determines is necessary.