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Planning and Zoning Commission renews O&G Industries quarry permit on Winstead Road
Summary
Torrington commissioners renewed a two‑year special exception and site plan allowing O&G Industries to continue excavation and processing on combined parcels at 3217 and 3345 Winstead Road, with conditions including bond amounts, fencing, blasting protocols and a required merger of the parcels.
The Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission on July 16 approved a two‑year renewal of a special exception and site plan allowing O&G Industries to continue mining, blasting and processing at properties on Winstead Road, including expanded excavation limits and a set of conditions intended to limit community impacts.
The approval covers combined parcels referenced in the application as 3217 and 3345 Winstead Road and carries conditions including required property merger, updated restoration bonds and fencing on steep finished slopes.
O&G representative Richard Warren said the company purchased the adjacent Haines Aggregates parcels and seeks to continue operations already authorized on the sites. "We are a long term city representative, hundred year, plus business, a good community member," Warren said, adding the consolidated property totals roughly 252 acres and that the company is asking to maintain the same operations previously permitted.
Kenneth Ricca, a licensed engineer and surveyor for Ricca Associates, described the applicant's proposed top‑down mining method and plans to remove a finger of material from a former drive‑in parcel to create safer benches and access to the rear of the quarry. "The benches are planned to be 50 feet tall and 50 feet wide," Ricca said, describing staged benching and later restoration as operations progress.
City planner Jeremy Leiford's staff memo recommended approval with waivers and conditions. The memo summarized that the combined operation would expand the approved open excavation area relative to prior approvals (staff cited proposed lower‑quarry excavation of about 33.4 acres and an upper‑quarry maximum of about 25.2 acres for the two‑year term) and noted bonding for restoration: $38,838 for the lower quarry and $400,000 for the upper quarry. The memo also recited required operational limits and standards the commission placed in the approval, including hours of operation, blasting windows and notification rules.
Public comment included a nearby resident, Bob Leonard of 105 Highland Lake Road, who said O&G "has been a good neighbor" but raised concerns about independent trucks, noise and a missing "no queuing" sign. Ricca clarified that the proposal intends to consolidate processing and truck traffic at the former Haines (lower) site and to minimize heavy truck use of the upper access road.
The commission approved multiple waivers related to setback and slope standards, postponed immediate installation of permanent fence where excavation is still active, required the merger of the two quarry parcels as a condition of final filing, and imposed conditions including a 600‑foot buffer from Burr Mountain Road, maintenance of a truck crossing sign on Winstead Road, annual reporting on complaint handling, and compliance with bonding and stormwater requirements. The motion to approve was made by Commissioner Donna Greco and was seconded; the commission voted in favor.
The approval allows the operator to continue processing and stockpiling at the lower (former Haines) processing area and to pursue top‑down excavation on the rear slopes of the combined quarry while following the restoration plan that staff and the applicant put forward. Specific technical permits (for DOT work in the right of way, for example) remain required before construction in affected rights of way.
