Proposed project seeks approvals

#MiddleburyCT #DistributionCenter

The locations of two proposed buildings on the Timex/764 Southford Road property, Southford Park, are outlined in black on this aerial view of the properties. Also shown are the parking spaces and the entry/exit road onto Southford Road. (SLR International Corporation rendering)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

An unsigned two-page missive distributed in parts of Middlebury accuses town officials of acting in secrecy regarding a proposed development project to put in a distribution center on a parcel comprising the 92.9-acre Timex property at 555 Christian Road and an adjoining 20-acre property at 764 Southford Road. The center would have two buildings, one that is 539,500 square feet, and one that is 180,000 square feet, for a total of 719,500 square feet. It would include 90 trailer storage spaces and 450 employee parking spaces.

First Selectman Edward B. St. John said it really bothered him to be accused of a cloak and dagger operation. He asked, “Why would the project have been presented to Wetlands if they are being so secretive?”

The application for approval of the project’s wetlands plan came before the Conservation Commission, which considers Wetlands matters, at its November 29 meeting. The commission accepted the application but has not yet approved it. The Conservation Commission meets publicly and posts its agenda in advance. It does not meet in December, so the next meeting will be Tuesday, January 31, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 26 at Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road.

St. John said, “If this was so under the radar screen, there are plenty of records.” One record, the Conservation Commission’s November 29 meeting minutes, was posted on the town website soon after the meeting. Since then, Zoning Enforcement Officer Curtis Bosco, with the help of St. John’s executive assistant, Liana St. Germain, has posted all the documents for the project, which is called “Southford Park.” Find those documents at tinyurl.com/3m8dntp6. Bosco plans to add documents as more come in.

As for the secret author’s claim there will be no public hearing and town officials will approve the project “administratively,” Bosco said “Something of this scope cannot go without a public hearing. The excavation and grading alone would require a public hearing as a matter of design.”

Public hearings are routinely scheduled after P&Z receives site plan applications. This project has not yet filed a site plan application with P&Z.

Joseph Puzzo, president of the homeowners association at nearby Avalon Farms said he heard about the project from a resident there. He said residents there are planning to meet with St. John and Bosco to discuss the situation. “The first thing I want to do is get accurate information,” Puzzo said. “Pending the outcome of the meeting, we’ll know what to do.”

He said the proposed project was eliciting a lot of interest and concern. He said he felt the property was a beautiful piece of land and he would not favor putting a distribution center on it. “There are plenty of other places where they could put it,” he said.

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) Chairman Terry Smith said he really can’t comment on the proposed buildings because they are part of a site plan, and P&Z has not yet received an application for the site plan. He said applications can be before Wetlands and P&Z concurrently, but P&Z can’t approve any projects that do not yet have Wetlands approval. “The earliest we could act is February,” he said, but he went on to say, “When we get to a site plan, that’s when we get into the weeds – how it’s going to be built and if it’s going to be built. Many changes can be made between the site plan application and the approval.”

P&Z does have an application before it for the property, but that application is for three text amendments to the zoning regulations. The first is to add the definition “Distribution Facilities” to the list of definitions. The definition is, “A specialized warehouse that serves as a hub to store finished goods, facilitate the picking, packing and sorting process and to ship goods out to another location or final destination.” The second is to add “distribution facilities” to the list of permitted uses in a light industrial 200 district, which has been the zoning for that property since at least 1997. The third is to add a height limit of 50 feet for increases in building heights granted by special exception only. It would not change the usual height restrictions.

The current wording for special exceptions has no height limit. Bosco said 50 feet was chosen because that’s the height restriction in the former Pilot’s Mall. Smith said 42.24 feet was the highest height granted by special exception to date. The height of the proposed buildings will be included in the site plan.

The application for the three text changes is scheduled to be heard in a public hearing at the P&Z meeting Thursday, January 5. That meeting is set for 7 p.m. in Room 26 in Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road.

Middlebury Assessor Chris Kelsey said the Timex property currently pays $194,000 a year in taxes plus $32,240 a year in sewer fees. If the new buildings were valued at $75 million dollars, the assessment would be $52.5 million and the tax payment (at the current mil rate) would be $1.641 million dollars. That number does not include taxable personal property in the buildings. He said if robotics are involved, they could be valued at more than the buildings. The new facilities would become the number one tax payer in town. There is not yet enough information to estimate the potential sewer taxes.

Please note the following clarifications, to the best of our knowledge, regarding some of the information being circulated:

• The property involved is zoned LI-200 (light industrial) and has been since at least 1997.
• The current Timex entry on Christian Road would be reserved for emergency vehicle use only. Traffic would enter and leave via 764 Southford Road.
• Proposed traffic flow to and from properties is subject to P&Z approval and is discussed during a site plan application.
• The number of required parking spaces must conform to zoning regulations.
• The Wetlands study clearly states it was prepared for Norman Drubner of Drubner Equities, LLC at 500 Chase Parkway in Waterbury.