#MIDDLEBURY #CONSERVATIONCOMMISSION
By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its June 28 meeting unanimously approved subdivision and wetland permits for Benson Woods. It also approved a house on Washington Drive and a barn expansion at Westover School. It denied a Straits Turnpike car wash application because of incomplete information.
Attorney Jennifer Yoxall of Carmody Torrance Sandak and Hennessey and Curt Smith of Smith and Co. represented Middlebury Land Development LLC, developers of Benson Woods. Yoxall explained that Benson Woods was a 79-unit development with a 1,200-square-foot community building that was being built in three phases. She said all the development’s permits had finally expired after being renewed and extended over the years since 2001 to 2002.
Yoxall said most of Phase 1 was complete, as were all its regulated activities. The new application covers Phases II and III as well as a resubmission of the original subdivision plan, which split the housing development from Timex headquarters property.
Smith reviewed the wetlands plans, saying the subdivision was designed so only 0.8 acres of the 17.36-acre property would be disturbed. He told commissioners a hillside area originally designated for wetlands creation would cause more disturbance than it would mitigate and, after discussion, received the okay from Wetlands Enforcement Officer Deborah Seavey not to create it and for the $10,000 performance bond to be refunded. A resolution to approve the project was unanimously approved.
Wetland permits for a house at 390 Washington Drive were unanimously approved for James Harlamon, who recently acquired the property. He told commissioners subdivision permits previously approved by the commission expired in 2014. As part of the approval, Harlamon was told to supply a detailed plot plan showing the driveway and recharge area.
Removal of trees and expansion of a barn at Westover School were unanimously approved. Employee Jeff Galusha told commissioners school renovation plans would move classrooms into the current maintenance building. He asked for approval to relocate the shop to an existing yellow barn on the property and construct a 26-by-30-foot addition to it for the school’s dump truck and other maintenance vehicles. Water, sewer and electrical service would be extended to the barn and a bathroom would be added. A number of white pine trees would be taken down for safety, a gravel driveway area would be improved, and a concrete block mulching area added.
“They don’t seem to have blight,” Galusha told Commissioner Curt Bosco, who asked about the pines, “but they’re 80 feet tall.” He said one had hit the roof of the barn and another four had fallen in the last year. A resolution to approve the project specified there be no washing salt off vehicles and no outside water spigot. The resolution also required a planting scheme to be approved by Seavey.
In other matters, an application by County Line Carriage for a car wash at 2160 Straits Turnpike was denied because the applicant did not appear and the information supplied was incomplete.
The next regular CC meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 26 at Shepardson Community Center.
