Frequently Asked Questions
What is Application #490 - 555 Christian Rd/764 Southford Rd?
- A wetlands application before the Middlebury Conservation Commission to redevelop the Timex Headquarters into a 720,000 sq ft distribution facility.
- The applicant is Drubner Equities, LLC (a MA registered company out of Boston)
- The end user is not known - this is either a speculation build or the client is deliberately hidden.
- The applicant proposes to fill .3 acres (15,608 sq ft) of wetlands and will disturb 7.02 acres within the 100' upland review area. This is activity in a regulated zone and needs a permit to proceed.
Where is the application in the decision making process?
- November 29, 2022: application first presented to the Conservation Commission. The Commission did not schedule a public hearing.
- December 2022: Conservation Commission did not meet.
- January 31, 2023: Middlebury Small Town Alliance (MSTA) filed for Intervenor Status and presented expert testimony. The Conservation Commission called for a Peer Review of the application.
- February 28, 2023: The Conservation Commission found the project would have a "significant impact" on wetlands and required the applicant to present "prudent and feasible alternatives" that would have less or no impact to wetlands. The Commission also scheduled a public hearing for the March 28th meeting.
- March 28, 2023: The public hearing opened, but was recessed to April 4th because the applicant took up most of the public's allotted time to speak.
- April 4, 2023: Public hearing continues in the auditorium at Pomperaug High School at 7pm.
- April 11, 2023: Potential meeting, details TBD
- April 25, 2023: Regularly scheduled Conservation Commission meeting
I thought this project was defeated when the P&Z Application was withdrawn...why isn't it over?
- The applicant tried to run approvals concurrently, which is a normal process. However, P&Z cannot proceed without a wetlands permit, and the P&Z application had some procedural errors that we believe would have invalidated the application. Additionally, the longer the application takes at the Conservation Commission, a resubmitted P&Z application would have been on hold anyway.
- If this application is approved at the Conservation Commission, it will then have to go back to P&Z for approval.
Why can't the town hold a referendum and vote no to this project?
- State law gives exclusive jurisdiction to Conservation or Wetlands Commissions to regulate activity impacting wetlands and the upland review area. There can't be a secondary authority impacting or overturning this primary authority.
- Town residents vote on a budget referendum because that's the process established by our Town Charter. Residents are given explicit approval or rejection authority. Residents also have the ability to vote on town ordinances, but the Wetlands Regulations are not part of this process.
Why did the MSTA file for Intervenor Status? What is Intervenor Status?
- Intervenor Status creates legal standing to participate in the application process. The Intervenor can allege the project will cause specific, unreasonable harm to the environment as proposed, and then provide expert testimony to prove this allegation.
- This standing also allows a decision to be appealed in court.
- The MSTA filed an intervention because it believes this project will cause unreasonable harm to the existing wetlands on the property as well as to neighboring properties and downstream receptors.
How much are legal and expert fees?
- The Civil Engineer/Water Quality expert witness cost roughly $9,000 to date: he’s reviewing the applicant’s site plan, analyzing it for its compliance with state regulations/best practices, and then will present those findings in person during meetings. This cost increases each time he has to re-review newly submitted plans and testify at a meeting.
- The Soil Scientist expert witness cost about $5000 to date: he was not granted access to the project site to verify wetlands delineation in person, so he can only comment on the reports submitted by the applicant's soil scientist and the Peer Reviewer, and raise issues that have not been adequately addressed by the applicant's materials.
- The lawyer is $450/hr and has cost about $22,000 to date.
