Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Monday, January 30, 2023
TOWN UPDATE: New Meeting Information this week 1/31 & 2/2
The town is hearing our collective voice! Let's show up to the meetings (wearing red) so everyone knows we are united.
In response to requests from Middlebury residents who wish to participate in the ongoing Land Use Commission proceedings, the following accommodations have been implemented:
Both meetings will be held at the Shepardson Community Center Auditorium.
Conservation Commission Meeting, Tuesday, January 31, 2023, 7:30 pm.
Planning and Zoning Commission, Thursday, February 2, 2023, 7:00 pm.
Both meetings will be available via ZOOM.
Conservation Commission link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
83582864100?pwd= bk11QTJwRG9jRldDcE9lazFiV2tqQT 09 (Meeting, not a Public Hearing). Planning and Zoning Commission link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
84868021279?pwd= WkVocFg0ek5obWhQd2diK00wTzFZZz 09 (Public Hearing).
The Shepardson Auditorium will have a sound system monitored by sound and video technicians to accommodate both the Commissioners and the public participants. The Commissioners will have microphones as will the podium.
The main Auditorium will have the Panel of Commissioners seated on the stage as to provide optimal seating on the floor for 150 audience members.
The adjacent dining room will be void of tables and be arranged with additional seating and audio/video feed.
Room 26 will have additional seating and audio/video feed.
A shuttle bus service will be available for overflow parking at both the Library and Town Hall. The Shuttle bus will traverse the parking lots of the Library, Town Hall and Shepardson commencing one half hour prior to each meeting. It will be available for the duration of the meetings and after the conclusion for the safety and convenience of the participants.
Commuters are asked to remain in their vehicles with flashers on to alert the shuttle driver for prompt pickup.
Police and Fire Officers will be on hand to insure the safety of the public.
Additional measures will be implemented as deemed appropriate.
Curtis Bosco
CZEO
Middlebury Planning and Zoning
1212 Whittemore Road
Middlebury, CT 06762
(203) 577-4162 Ext 2
Good News! Presenting the case at the Conservation Commission meeting
The Middlebury Small Town Alliance has been invited as an "intervener" to present its case at the Conservation Commission meeting tomorrow, 1/31, at 7:30pm in Shepardson Auditorium. Our civil engineer expert witness will be testifying.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated to make this possible!!!
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Meeting instructions for 1/31 and 2/2
Conservation Commission meeting - Tuesday, January 31st @ 7:30pm, Shepardson Community Center Auditorium
- Wear something RED to show your opposition to destroying wetlands on the Timex site
- Plan to arrive early to ensure you can find parking and a seat
- Here’s the meeting agenda: https://www.
middlebury-ct.org/sites/g/ files/vyhlif6871/f/agendas/ 013123_0.pdf - If you can’t attend, email your comments to the Wetlands Officer, Debbie Seavey at dseavey@middlebury-ct.org
by Tuesday, 1/31 at 4pm. - If you can’t attend, the meeting will be available to watch on Zoom. Here’s the link: http://us02web.zoom.us/j/83582864100?pwd=bk11QTJwRG9jRldDcE9lazFiV2tqQT09
Planning and Zoning public hearing - Thursday, February 2nd @ 7pm, Shepardson Community Center (room TBD)
- Wear something RED to show your opposition to adding Distribution facilities as a permitted use in the LI-200 zone
- Plan to arrive early to ensure you can find parking and a seat
- Meeting agenda is not yet posted, will be here: https://www.middlebury-
ct.org/planning-zoning- commission - If you can’t attend, email your comments to Curt Bosco at cbosco@middlebury-ct.org
If you try to attend either meeting and are turned away because you can’t find a place to park or you can’t get into the building, please email middlebury.small.town.
Good news! The Economic Development Commission (EDC) meeting minutes (amended unapproved) of January 23, 2023 have been updated to include the Commission's unanimous vote FOR the following resolution
The Economic Development Commission (EDC) meeting minutes
(amended unapproved) of January 23, 2023: https://www.middlebury-ct.org/
MINUTES - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Monday, January 23, 2023
Page 4
RESOLUTION FOR A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT
WHEREAS, the Economic Development Commission (the "EDC") is constituted to encourage balanced smart economic development in Middlebury, review architectural consistency, and recommend tax incentives where appropriate.
WHEREAS, the Town of Middlebury Planning and Zoning Commission is considering a proposal that would change the zoning ordinances as follows: January 5, 2023 Meeting: Application for text amendments of Sections 9.1 Definitions to add Distribution Facilities, 42.1 Permitted Uses to add Distribution Facilities as a permitted use, 42.2.4 Height of Buildings adding warehouses and distribution facilities not to exceed fifty feet to the current language.
WHEREAS, members of the Economic Development Commission (the “EDC”) have been contacted by a wide array of Middlebury property owners, homeowners, residents and constituent electors and taxpayers of the town regarding the proposed text change that would benefit one property in a commercial zone immediately adjacent to several neighborhoods; the proposed change would intensify the use of the commercial property and conduct of business beyond what is currently provided in the existing commercial zone.
WHEREAS, the new use would strain the local road infrastructure and impact the peaceful enjoyment of the residents of the immediate neighborhoods and the general conduct of life in town.
WHEREAS, the existing former use was a sensitive and consistent approach to development that was in concert with the adjacent residential development that occurred over time. This reality cannot be dismissed solely based on a permitted zone and simply adding provisions to increase intensity of use.
WHEREAS, the Planning and Zoning Commission should also respect that the town has other zones that will not impact neighborhoods in the same way and are better suited to accommodate the commercial intensity, infrastructure needs, and traffic attendant to the proposal currently under consideration.
WHEREAS, the Commission should consider that such a text change may result in other unintended consequences in similar commercial zones elsewhere in town.
WHEREAS, the Economic Development Commission (the "EDC") maintains that as the town's growth continues the EDC must recognize not just the desire for economic development and added value to the grand list to occur in such zones, but that such development needs to occur with a comprehensive approach and understanding of other residential and commercial development as it has evolved to date in such areas.
THEREFORE,
the proposal currently before the Town Planning and Zoning Commission
should be rejected in favor of other areas within town that are better
suited for such development. Consistent with this recommendation the
Commission should immediately proceed to the re-examination of our
commercial and industrial zones to consider designations where such uses
will not radically alter the enjoyment of other development that has
occurred in immediately adjacent neighborhoods and the local and state
road infrastructure is conducive to such developments.
Friday, January 27, 2023
Visualize a huge Distribution Facility, nestled between residential neighborhoods
What is the potential loss in tax revenue due to a 10-20% loss in home values within a 1 mile radius?
Why accept the health risks of jamming a High Pollutant Load Site in-between residential neighborhoods?
This project is larger that the entire Avalon Farms neighborhood, and those light blue dots to the west represent approved-but-not-yet-built homes in Benson Woods. Who wants to move there?
Tuesday, Jan 31st - Conservation Commission, 7:30pm @ Shepardson Community Center
Thursday, Feb 2nd - Planning and Zoning Public Hearing, 7pm @ Shepardson Community Center
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Why Can’t the Town just Vote NO???
January 27th is the one-month anniversary of an informational meeting hosted by the Avalon Farms HOA Board for its members with Curt Bosco, Middlebury’s Zoning Enforcement Officer, and First Selectman Ed. St. John. The purpose of the meeting was to answer questions about the Southford Park proposal (meaning the site plan before the Conservation Commission as well as the text amendments before the Planning and Zoning Commission). Several other Middlebury residents were invited to the meeting, including neighboring HOA board members and private landowners close to the Timex site.
Since that time,
opposition to the idea of a 750,000 sq ft distribution center in
Middlebury has grown immensely. However, the same question keeps popping
up: why can’t we just take a town vote and vote no?
Unfortunately,
CT state law gives the sole authority to Planning and Zoning
Commissions to make these kinds of choices. There is a process to
follow: someone applies with an idea, the idea is considered, the answer
is yes or no depending on several factors, the most important being
what right is conferred in the regulations. Essentially, if the rules
say something is allowed as long as the applicant meets all stated
requirements, the application can’t be denied if it meets all stated
requirements. This is what right-of-use means: If you want to put a
pool in your yard, the town can’t say no as long as you follow all the
rules for putting in a pool.
Because the
Planning and Zoning Commission is solely responsible for making all the
rules about what can go where, there can’t be another authority that
interferes with this process. As much as we all want to VOTE NO, we
can’t take a vote that would compel P&Z to do anything. We could all
sign a symbolic petition, but that would waste time and energy on
something that doesn’t really advance the cause.
What
does advance the cause? The upcoming Conservation Commission meeting on
January 31st at 7:30pm at the Shepardson Center is a key milestone in
the process. There is no public comment scheduled for the meeting, so no
one can speak opposition during the meeting. However, you can email it
in ahead of time to the Wetlands Officer - dseavey@middlebury-ct.org - and you can attend the meeting and watch the Commission discuss the
application. You could even quietly hold a sign that says: Opposed - Do Not Destroy Wetlands.
This
brings us to the heart of the issue before the Conservation Commission:
the destruction of wetlands. Per the Clean Water Act of 1972, all
parties seeking to construct projects that will have an impact on
wetlands must take all reasonable measures to avoid such impacts, to
minimize unavoidable impacts, and to provide mitigation for the
remaining unavoidable impacts.
Here’s the key: you can’t just skip to option #3. You must first take all reasonable measures to avoid such impacts.
Application #490 is using 19.1% of the allowed 20% usage of 111.9
acres. It’s basically shoving all the building it can onto the combined
properties at 555 Christian Rd. and 764 Southford Rd. It’s asking to
fill 15,608 sf of “isolated wetlands” so it can create 32,000 sf of
other “mitigation” wetlands elsewhere on the property. But the only
thing driving the filling of wetlands is the size of the building and
the surrounding access, parking and loading areas. Furthermore, the CT
Audubon reports that “many mitigation sites in Southern New England have
a high failure rate because they fail to meet performance standards
(Minkin and Ladd, 2003).” In other words, it’s expensive to build
mitigating wetlands correctly, and most developers don’t have the skill,
patience or desire to spend money on doing it correctly. Plus, who’s
really watching once the permits are issued and the project is approved?
In
this case, the mantra shared at the December 27th meeting was as
follows: “It’s just science. There’s not enough of an impact to wetlands
plus they are adding back twice as many, so it’s fine. The Conservation
Commission didn’t call a public hearing because it wasn’t a very
significant impact.”
The real science
is way different: filling wetlands is the very definition of
unreasonable impact. One is supposed to design a project in such a way
as to AVOID such destruction. Reducing the overall building size and
corresponding parking/loading areas would be an easy way to avoid filing
wetlands. This site is asking for 750,000 sf of building because it
maximizes the developer’s profit, not because it’s the best choice for
the surrounding environment.
It’s not a total
sum game either: what occurs naturally often isn’t replicated
artificially very easily. Sure, you can get an artificial arm after you
lose yours, but does it really function the same way? Likewise, the
random creation of new wetlands does not add value back to the original
system in the same way the original wetlands did. Add to this discussion
the fact that this proposed use is categorized a High Pollutant Load
Site by the CT DEP Storm Water Quality Manual “2004 Manual” and you
have a recipe for environmental disaster. The civil engineer hired by
the Middlebury Small Town Alliance to review the site plan submitted to
the Conservation Commission (Application #490) found 8 pages worth of
reasons why the site plan doesn’t comply with CT regulations on storm
water management. It wasn’t just one area of non-compliance, it was
piece after piece after piece of the design that was either not best
practice, designed incorrectly, or just flat out not the way it should
be done.
What do we conclude from all this?
Had someone not caught wind of what was happening around the holidays,
this application would have snuck right through the Conservation
Commission and Planning & Zoning with very little resistance and
little to no embedded protections for Middlebury residents. It’s not
just a simple text amendment before P&Z, it’s a request to change
the very nature of the LI-200 zone from a light industrial use (meaning
the affects of the use of the zone - pollution, noise, traffic, etc.) to
a heavy industrial use (heavy traffic, heavy pollution, heavy noise).
It’s asking us to put our children’s health and our own on the line
(asthma rates within a mile of a warehouse are at 55% and heart issues
are at 9.1% according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District
for the area encompassing LA, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino
counties) It’s asking us to shoulder all the negatives for what
positives? Some tax revenue that we might see way in the future once all
the tax abatements cease and property taxes rise so the other side of
town can compensate for the 20% loss to property values within a mile of
the project?
It’s just not worth it. Even the
Economic Development Commission doesn’t support this project: it voted
to send a resolution saying as much to the P&Z Commission at its
January 23rd meeting, and then was threatened the next day by the First
Selectman and Town Attorney with a Middlebury Code of Ethics violation
for sending an "unsolicited opinion" to another town committee. The
draft copy of the meeting minutes were altered to remove the language of
the resolution and the result of the vote. Not only is this a blatant
Freedom of Information Act violation, but it’s probably a federal civil
rights violation too.
We don’t have to take
any of this. Not the proposed zoning changes, not the “mansplaining”
away of important environmental issues, and certainly not the bad
behavior by our own officials. Please - this affects all of us, and not
just in Middlebury. The regional traffic pattern changes will trickle
out towards Southbury, Woodbury, Watertown and Oxford too. We’ll all pay
the cost, and we won’t be able to do a darn thing about it if
distribution facilities become a right-of-use in the LI-200 zone.
At
the beginning of this article, I said taking a town vote was a waste of
time and energy...that was a ploy to suck you into my article (hope it
worked) and to allow me to make my final point. You actually can vote.
You can vote with your body by attending the Conservation Commission
meeting on January 31st and the Planning and Zoning Meeting on February
2nd. You can vote with your mouth by sending emails to dseavey@middlebury-ct.org (
So let’s vote, and let’s take back our Town!
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