The Middlebury Small Town Alliance, Avalon Farms Homeowners Association and Gary Kline have filed an appeal with the Superior Court challenging the town Conservation Commission’s decision to issue a wetlands permit for a controversial distribution facility proposed for Christian Road at the former Timex headquarters. “The Alliance is upset at the lengths the Conservation Commission went to rationalize a very unpopular decision”, said Jennifer Mahr, President of the Alliance. “It was clear the site could have been developed without destroying wetlands. The Applicant and the Town seemed to be mocking the whole idea of wetlands protection. It was like a joke to them.”
The facility, a 670,000 square foot distribution facility and trucking center designed for an undisclosed company, is deeply disliked by residents. The many meetings and hearings held on the permit were well-attended by the public, with overflow into other rooms and filling the auditorium at Pomperaug High School. At no time did anyone speak in favor of the proposal, except the Applicant and the town ZEO, Curt Bosco, who is also a member of the Conservation Commission.“The feasible and prudent alternatives analysis was flawed. The Applicant seemed to be intentionally offering alternative plans that were worse by adding things to the original proposal like housing, not reducing the footprint and then adding in artificial sweeteners to their preferred proposal. It was insulting”, added Keith Ainsworth, the New Haven attorney representing the Alliance, “It was obvious they were sabotaging any plan but the one they wanted and the town went happily along with it.”
The appeal, filed in Superior Court at Waterbury, describes the decision as arbitrary, lacking credible evidence and internally contradictory. “It’s pretty shameful for a wetlands agency to buy into the philosophy that some wetlands are second-class and not worth saving”, Mahr noted.
The lawsuit also faults Conservation Commission chairman, Paul Bowler, for his lack of attendance at the various hearings and for town officials attempting to suppress public comment and free speech through “a contorted reading of the Middlebury Code of Ethics,” characterizing the tactic as “intimidation”.
The MSTA also filed a zoning text amendment application with the town’s Land Use Office, asking for a one-year moratorium on any distribution facility regardless of size and any warehouse use comprising a gross floor area in excess of 100,000 square feet. The purpose of the moratorium is to provide the Middlebury Planning and Zoning Commission with ample time to analyze thoroughly and thoughtfully Middlebury’s Light Industrial 200 (LI-200) District and to determine whether the district is reasonably suited to support “distribution facilities” and large warehouse operations. “A moratorium would allow Middlebury residents the opportunity to participate fully in the decision-making process,” Mahr said. “Even though hundreds of residents have repeatedly told town officials that distribution facilities have no place in Middlebury, all we’ve been told is that the Code of Ethics prevents town officials from sharing their opinions, and that an application ‘has to be approved’ if it meets all regulations. That might be true if we were talking about a site plan application for a currently permitted use in the LI-200 zone, but no one has a “right of use” to fill in wetlands, and distribution facilities are not currently permitted in the LI-200 zone.”
A copy of the appeal will be posted on the MSTA’s website, here: Conservation Commission Appeal
