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Milford Inland Wetlands Agency approves 843 North Street development with conditions and monitoring bond
Summary
The Milford Inland Wetlands Agency approved application IW-240082 for a multi-unit development at 843 North Street, imposing erosion-control conditions, stormwater requirements, mitigation-monitoring and a bond; the approval was unanimous after an amendment to restrict pesticide/herbicide use in a planting area.
The Milford Inland Wetlands Agency voted unanimously March 5 to approve application IW 240082, a proposal by 843 North Street LLC for development and grading at 843 North Street within 50 feet of a mapped wetland review area in the Weppeweg River watershed.
The agency approved the application after deliberations about soils, drainage and mitigation. The approval includes conditions requiring a construction plan, erosion- and sedimentation-control measures consistent with Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection guidance, stormwater treatment and an operations-and-maintenance plan to be recorded on the Milford land records. The agency also required a mitigation-monitoring bond and multi-year monitoring by a professional wetland scientist.
Agency members said they were persuaded by the city engineer's review and by changes the applicant made to the plans. "The city engineer ... felt that the design and the plan met the water quality manual and would infiltrate the 100 storm, which is a higher standard than we normally ask for," Mary Rose, staff member, said during deliberations. Commissioners also noted the applicant revised the plans to reduce clearing and move work further from the off-site wetlands.
Deliberations focused on whether soils in the review area would provide adequate infiltration and on the adequacy of the proposed stormwater measures. Agency members discussed differing soil information: the applicant's engineer performed on-site percolation and hydrology observations, while the neighbor's engineer relied on the New Haven County soil survey and web-soil data because he did not have permission to access the property. Several commissioners said they found the applicant's, and the city engineer's, observations persuasive.
The approval carries multiple conditions. They include installation and maintenance of sediment and erosion controls as outlined on the approved plans and in Connecticut DEEP (02/2024) erosion- and sedimentation-control guidance; submission of a construction plan before issuance of permits; compliance with the city engineer's stormwater requirements; preparation and recordation of operations-and-maintenance manuals for stormwater systems; weekly inspections of erosion controls and inspections within 48 hours after precipitation events of 1.5 inches or greater; and a requirement that identified erosion-control issues be corrected within 24 hours of inspection.
The agency also imposed a mitigation-monitoring bond to be posted prior to site disturbance to secure the mitigation plantings in the Upland Review Area and required a minimum of three years of mitigation monitoring by a professional wetland scientist, with written reports to the agency twice per year. The agency reserves the right to hold the bond for an additional two years if monitoring shows the site has not met the plan's success criteria.
The motion was amended during the meeting to add a condition that the proposed planting area follow the pesticide/herbicide protocols described by the landscape consultant. That amendment passed on a roll-call vote, and the amended motion then passed unanimously. After the vote, the applicant's attorney thanked the agency for a deliberative process: "I just wanna say I commend the board, for its professionalism and considering all the, testimony that was submitted both on behalf of my client and the neighbors," attorney Timothy Lynch said.
Votes at a glance: the motion to approve application IW 240082 (843 North Street) passed unanimously; roll-call votes recorded "aye" from Daniel Beddicker, Ranjeet Bahav, Brian Black, Jim Connors, Matthew Connors, Steve Munson, Nick Ritchie, Julie Valvo and Chair Brendan Magan.
The agency closed deliberations on IW 240082 and moved to other business. A separate application (IW 250077, Boston Post Road) was continued at the applicant's request to a later meeting to allow time for revised plans and city-engineer review.
