Public hearing continues

#MiddleburyCT #PublicHearing #DistributionCenter

Each blue dot on this map represents a Middlebury resident’s home within roughly a mile of the proposed distribution center. The light blue dots closest to the center are planned Benson Woods homes. The center is highlighted in white, schools in yellow. (Don Andrews image)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

The Middlebury Conservation Commission’s (CC) public hearing on a proposed distribution center began March 28 and will continue Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Pomperaug High School at 234 Judd Road in Southbury. The hearing also will be available on Zoom in view only mode (those on Zoom will not be able to comment). The Zoom link is tinyurl.com/mue9mn4z.

The hearing is for Application 490, for 555 Christian Road/764 Southford Road, which seeks inland/wetlands approval to build a distribution center comprising two buildings – one 540,000 square feet and one 180,000 square feet in size with 450 parking spaces – and loading docks serviced by, at last count, 106 tractor trailers. The applicant is required to obtain the Conservation Commission’s approval of its wetlands plans. It cannot obtain needed Planning and Zoning Commission approval without wetlands approval.

Residents who attended the March 28 hearing to voice their opposition to the project ended up not having much time to speak. That’s because the applicant and its experts went first, followed by an outside reviewer hired by the town, the town engineer, and then the intervener and its experts. The applicant testified for approximately an hour and a half, leaving the others to condense their planned testimony in order to give the public at least a short amount of time in which to address the commission.

As it was, public comments didn’t start until 9:15 p.m., and the hearing, which was to end at 9:30 p.m., was allowed to go about 20 or so minutes past that time until building officials said the hearing had to end.

CC Vice Chair Mary Barton continued the hearing to April 4 and said the April 4 hearing would be devoted to public comment. The applicant and intervener will be allowed to respond, but Barton said those responses will be at another continuance of the hearing. At the March 28 hearing, a possible date of April 11 was mentioned for that purpose.