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Torrington wetlands enforcement report: site forensics, citations and cleanup progress
Summary
Commission staff reported progress on remediation and forensic mapping at 516 Mountain Road; said zoning citations will be issued at 2904 Winstead Road; and noted two agent-level matters — removal and regrading at 394 Main Street and a deck at 172 Sycamore Drive.
Commission staff and outside consultants updated the Torrington Inland Wetlands Commission Sept. 9 on several enforcement and compliance matters, reporting progress on a forensic wetlands investigation, imminent citations at one property and closure or administrative resolution of minor violations.
Clinton Webb, an environmental consultant working on 516 Mountain Road, reported that an existing-conditions plan with survey, topo and wetland delineation has been completed and that a site walk with staff and soil scientists was scheduled the following morning. Webb said consultants will overlay recent and historical aerial photos and lidar/topo data to create a year-by-year reconstruction of site conditions to guide recommended restoration work. "This is gonna be fun," Webb said, describing the forensic approach to locating fill and historical wetland extents.
Staff also advised the commission that citations will be issued at 2904 Winstead (spoken in the record as Winstead/Winstead/Winston variations) for ongoing grading and zoning violations. The enforcement officer said he will issue running citations, described in the record as a $100-per-day and a $150-per-day citation, following repeated attempts to get the property owner's consultants to respond after a cease-and-desist order more than a year earlier.
On agent determinations, staff said the unauthorized brick-and-mortar removal and fill at 394 Main Street has been corrected: fill was removed, the area graded and seeded, and germination is pending. Another agent-level filing, a deck at 172 Sycamore Drive in the upland review area, was handled administratively.
A member of the public asked for the name of an attorney who had been retained on a separate case (Meserelli/Meserelli); staff provided the name "Steven Byrne" and said he would circulate contact information. Staff said they will continue to coordinate enforcement steps, confirm the forensic overlays and bring formal restoration proposals back to the commission as needed.
