Norwalk aquifer agency accepts several registrations, sets Aug. 20 deadline for incomplete applications

The Norwalk City Aquifer Protection Agency on Wednesday accepted multiple facility registration applications and voted to reject four incomplete returning registrations unless applicants submit required materials by Aug. 20.

Agency staff informed members that several new and reregistration applications were complete and eligible for acceptance, while other returning applications remained incomplete and at risk of automatic approval under a 180-day rule unless the agency acted.

Alexis Chiricheti, Aquifer Protection Agency staff, told the agency the first three new applications were “technically inactive” registrations and that the application for RA25114 at 30 Mueller Avenue (Follins Lawn Land and Lawn) was “complete.” She said the registrant is not currently performing regulated activities and is using the one-time inactive registration permitted under the regulations. “If in 5 years from their registration this year, if they’re still not doing any regulated activities, they’re not allowed to reregister,” Chiricheti said, describing the five-year limit contained in the state regulations.

The agency approved multiple individual registration applications during the meeting. Staff recommended acceptance of applications that were complete; for the first application (RA25114, 30 Mueller Avenue) the vote produced six in favor and two abstentions. Staff reported RA2511817 (a Broad Street paint‑wholesale facility previously serving auto-body businesses) and RA25119 (5 Ruby Street, a landscaping company that no longer stores pesticides on site) were also complete and were accepted by the agency.

Members then moved on to a set of returning registrations that remained incomplete. Chiricheti reminded the agency that state rules refer to a 180‑day decision deadline: “if you don’t take any action within a hundred and 80 days of the receipt of the registration application… it’s considered accepted and approved,” she said. To prevent automatic acceptance of four incomplete applications, agency members voted to formally reject those four as incomplete and give the applicants a new deadline of August 20 to submit complete registrations. The motion passed with hands raised and no recorded opposition.

Agency members asked whether the city could change the regulations to remove the one-time registration for vacant properties or shorten the five‑year allowance. Chiricheti said the agency lacks that authority: the state enabling statute and the state regulations (prepared by the state environmental agency) set the registration cycle and the one-time vacancy allowance. “The state statute specifically allowed for the registration of vacant properties, for one registration cycle,” she said. “No. It specifically says, 5 years in the… so the state controls in all of this, and we basically have no say.”

Members pressed staff about enforcement options if an applicant failed to meet the August 20 deadline. Chiricheti described next steps as administrative and case‑specific: the agency could issue an additional short deadline and, depending on registration expirations, could pursue enforcement for regulated activity without a valid registration and consult the law department about next steps.

The agency also reviewed the set of later items on its roster: staff recommended three additional returning registrations (items 5, 6 and 9 on the agenda) were complete and should be accepted; a motion to accept those three passed unanimously. Chiricheti said she would contact members about scheduling a special meeting in May if the agency wanted to consider the remaining incomplete items sooner.

Chiricheti noted the agency had not moved forward on a separate citation-and-fine ordinance; she said she would follow up with the law department and bring any draft back when available.

The meeting concluded after acceptance of the listed complete registrations and action to reject the incomplete ones with the August 20 deadline. Staff flagged that repeated extensions and the current meeting schedule make timely discussion difficult and said she would propose meeting scheduling options to the agency.