The Middlebury Small Town Alliance (MSTA) has provided the following update on the redevelopment of the Timex property at 555 Christian Rd and the adjoining property at 764 Southford Rd:
While it is true that the proposed text amendments application to add distribution facilities as a permitted use in the LI-200 zone was withdrawn from the Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb 1st, the project is still very much alive at the Conservation Commission. The photo below was taken from the applicant’s wetland report submitted to the Conservation Commission by SLR. You can see the proposed building sitting on top of dotted red lines - those are the wetlands and 100’ upland review area the applicant proposes to fill in as part of the project. The report is available here: https://www.middlebury-
The MSTA has hired a lawyer, a civil engineer and a soil scientist to review the site plan application for compliance with state regulations on storm water management and pollution control. This work is critical because the proposed use is deemed a “high pollutant load site” by the CT DEP, and there are specific steps that should be taken to manage the storm water run-off so that there are no thermal or pollutant effects passed off the property without proper treatment. Our civil engineer had 8 pages of things he found wrong with the applicant’s storm water management design, so already, the MSTA’s work is proving to be a crucial save for our town.
At the Conservation Commission meeting on January 31st, the Commission asked for a peer review of the project. The town hired its own soil scientist (at applicant’s expense) to review the application, and we expect the outcome of that review in the next week. The MSTA will then have its soil scientist review the original report plus the town’s peer review, and present our findings at the Feb. 28th Conservation Commission Meeting. We’re hoping to convince the Commission to issue a finding of “significant impact” on the wetlands the applicants wants to destroy to build the project. Ultimately, we’re hoping the Commission will deny the application for failing to comply with state regulations and for unnecessarily destroying wetlands.
As we prepare for the February 28th Conservation Commission meeting at 7:30pm at Shepardson Center, we could use your help in a number of areas:
1. Plan to attend the meeting in person. Please wear red to show your opposition to this project. Specifically, the applicant shouldn’t be filling in wetlands just to shove the biggest building it can on this site. There will be no public hearing, but a strong resident attendance sends a message to the Commission.
2. Talk to your friends in town, and get the word out! If you want to be more involved, please email middlebury.small.town.
3. Make a donation to the MSTA to cover legal/expert witness fees. We’ve set an interim fundraising goal of $15,000 in February to be able to afford the fees due at the end of the month. You can support us online at https://www.gofundme.com/f/
Thank you for your support thus far, our town deserves nothing less!
Jennifer Mahr
President, MSTA
