Norwalk commission keeps public hearing open on 284 New Canaan Ave.; requests third‑party wetlands review

The Conservation Commission and Inland Wetland Agency of the City of Norwalk kept the public hearing open March 25 on corrective‑action and modification plans for 284 New Canaan Avenue and asked for an independent wetlands review before closing the record.

The hearing addressed a corrective‑action application tied to a special permit first approved in 2016 and modified in 2019 for a contractor yard at the former armory. Brian Carey, a wetlands scientist with LandTech representing AJ Penn and Company, presented updated plans showing plantings, a seeding mix and a revised stormwater design that would replace an above‑ground detention area with a subsurface gallery system and relocate material storage bins within the existing yard footprint. Carey said, “We did put the tree plantings in at the same density as the restoration plan.”

Commissioners and staff pressed for clarity about what was built under the 2016/2019 approvals, how the site has been used since, and whether the proposed changes would increase impacts to adjacent wetlands. Commissioner Catherine Knight said she was not satisfied with the available information: “I just don't feel like we have enough information to know whether or not this is sufficient.”

Why this matters: commissioners said the parcel…