Public hearing closed on New Canaan Avenue contractor yard; commission asks staff for draft resolution and clarifications

The Norwalk Conservation Commission and Inland Wetland Agency on April 22 closed a long public hearing on a corrective‑action permit modification for the contractor’s yard at 284 New Canaan Avenue (application S‑16‑499B) and directed staff to prepare draft resolution language for consideration at the commission’s May meeting.

The application, brought by AJ Pena & Sons (represented by attorney Rick Costantini) proposes two principal changes: restoration of a previously disturbed area on the eastern portion of the yard, and modification of a previously approved above‑ground stormwater treatment arrangement to a subsurface gallery (referred to in the record as a Coltec/Caltec underground system). The applicant’s engineer and wetland scientist, Brian Carey of LandTech, told the commission the change was reviewed and approved by Norwalk public‑works engineering staff and that the proposed underground galleries would provide stormwater treatment equivalent to or better than the prior above‑ground design.

Neighbors and their counsel raised concerns. Several abutters spoke during the public comments, including a next‑door neighbor…