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Owner files restoration plan after clearing at 294 New Canaan Ave; wetlands approval and stormwater modification pending
Summary
The owner of 294 New Canaan Ave filed an after-the-fact restoration plan following unauthorized clearing. The application to the Planning & Zoning Commission notes an Inland Wetlands-approved planting plan for one area, work on a second area and a pending stormwater modification review; restoration will include about 65 trees at 2.5-inch caliper.
Attorney Rick Constantini, representing Indian Hill RE LLC, told the Planning & Zoning Commission the property owner has submitted an after-the-fact restoration plan following unauthorized clearing on portions of the 294 New Canaan Avenue site.
Constantini said the applicant submitted a restoration plan that the Inland Wetlands Agency approved for the northwest portion of the cleared area and that the applicant will update planting specifications to reflect the wetlands agency’s request for additional evergreen screening. The firm will submit a separate special-permit application, as requested in staff comments, to address proposed changes to the site’s stormwater system after the wetlands review is completed.
Brian Carey, the project engineer and wetland scientist on the call, described the restoration planting: about 65 trees will be installed with typical nursery stock sizes (approximately 6 feet tall and about 2.5-inch caliper), together with a dense understory of wetland/upland shrubs and a seed layer of forbs and grasses. Carey said the nursery-size stock matches Army Corps and restoration best practices and is the largest practical size available in bulk for dense restoration plantings.
Constantini said the clearing appeared to result from a misunderstanding with a staff member during a period when the upland review boundary for wetlands was changed from 50 to 100 feet, which drew new areas into the jurisdiction. The applicant told commissioners it is not seeking to expand the contractor yard previously authorized by special permit; rather, it seeks to restore areas cleared outside but adjacent to the approved yard footprint and to resolve the zoning notice of violation.
Schedule: the application’s pending elements include a wetlands hearing (scheduled for April 22, according to the presentation) on a proposed change from above-ground detention to an underground stormwater system in the lower portion of the site. The applicants told commissioners they will submit any additional special-permit materials required by zoning staff after inland-wetlands action.
Ending: Commissioners asked about planting sizes and staff coordination with conservation; the project team said they would confirm species and sizes with conservation staff and that planting details would be coordinated with the Inland Wetlands Agency and city staff prior to final approval.
