Torrington planning commission renews O&G quarry permit with conditions

The Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission on July 16 approved a two-year renewal of a special exception and site plan that will allow O&G Industries to continue excavation, processing and accessory retail sales at parcels on Winstead Road.

The renewal covers combined operations at 3217 and 3345 Winstead Road and carries multiple waivers and conditions including a required merger of the two quarry parcels, fencing for steep slopes, bond amounts for restoration and explicit blasting and notification requirements.

Commissioner Donna Greco moved to approve the special exception (SE 25-4) and site plan (15-68); the motion passed on a voice vote. Jeremy Leiford, the city planner, presented staff findings and recommended conditions that the commission adopted. Leiford’s memorandum recorded the proposed maximum excavation areas for the two properties and described required waivers under the city’s updated excavation rules.

Richard Warren, representing O&G Industries, said the company seeks renewal of an existing permit and that operations “are identical in operations to what had been previously approved,” noting the parcels were previously permitted and have been worked for decades. Kenneth Ricca, a professional engineer and licensed land surveyor for Ricca Associates, described the company’s plan to integrate the former Haines Aggregates areas into a single operation and to use a top-down benching method for back-slope work. Ricca said, “the benches are planned to be 50 feet tall and 50 feet wide,” and explained that the method is intended to reduce the current 180–200-foot sheer face left by prior work and to create safer, staged benches for mining and progressive restoration.

Leiford’s summary to the commission identified key technical and operating parameters included in the application and staff report: the proposed maximum acreage to be excavated in the upcoming two-year permit term (approximately 25.2 acres in the upper quarry and 33.4 acres in the lower quarry), an estimated annual production range (about 500,000 cubic yards per year, subject to market demand), operating hours and blasting windows, and bonding for restoration ($38,838 for the lower quarry and $400,000 for the upper quarry). Leiford also noted the operations are limited to existing entrances on Winstead Road, the southern limit of core quarrying would remain roughly 600 feet from Burr Mountain Road, and any repaving work in the state right-of-way will require Connecticut DOT approval.

At the public hearing neighbor Bob Leonard of 105 Highland Lake Road said he has generally found O&G to be “a good neighbor” but raised current concerns about loud independent trucks and the absence of a posted queuing sign on the gate. Leonard said trucks occasionally fail to stop or pull properly onto Winstead Road. Richard Warren acknowledged the missing sign at one access and said the company will replace it.

The approval includes multiple conditions and waivers spelled out in the planner’s recommendation and incorporated into the commission’s motion. They include: requiring the two quarry parcels to be combined as a condition of approval; permitting slopes steeper than 2:1 in stable rock with a final plan that shows permanent fencing of at least 4 feet at the top of finished slopes steeper than 2:1 (waivers may postpone immediate installation in active excavation zones); allowing more than five acres of active open excavation in the combined site for safety and operational reasons tied to the top-down benching method (subject to the commission’s findings and the new March 2025 regulation adjustments); and specific blasting controls and notification protocols (no blasting on weekends or listed holidays, blasting allowed weekdays 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., coordinated around school bus schedules with advance notices to adjoining owners and the mayor’s office).

The planner’s memo and the commission’s conditions also require annual engineering certification of culvert integrity where heavy trucks cross the Still River (for a different quarry on the agenda staff requested an annual culvert report), maintenance of anti-tracking measures at the site entrance, and continued compliance with the Connecticut DEEP general permit for stormwater associated with industrial activity (the statewide permit was noted as expiring 09/30/2025 and under renewal review by DEEP). The commission’s recommendation also preserves a 1-acre area reserved for accessory retail sales on the lower site should O&G decide to reopen a retail yard.

The commission’s approval formally grants waivers under Torrington’s excavation regulations (sections cited in the staff report) and directs submission of final plan sheets, executed mylars, updated restoration plans showing fencing and stormwater piping changes, and DOT approval where work affects the state right-of-way prior to issuance of grading or zoning permits. Leiford’s staff memo and Ricca’s engineering presentation were recorded in the hearing record and used to justify the commission’s findings that the proposed use and plan were “reasonably protective of the health, safety and welfare” of the project area.

The renewal preserves the existing restrictions on blasting, limits Saturday processing hours and retail hours, and reiterates that no quarry operation will occur on Sundays or specified holidays. The commission also required that the applicant maintain a truck-crossing sign on Winstead Road and designate a contact person to log and handle neighbor complaints; the complaint log must be provided when the quarry’s permit is next renewed.

The commission closed the public hearing and voted to approve the special exception and site plan renewal with the conditions read into the record. The approval requires filing of the certificate of special exception and final plan mylars with the city clerk as part of the standard record-keeping and permit process.