Zoning board approves single-family home in Watershed District at 148 Trout Drive with stormwater conditions

The Town of Middletown Zoning Board on a recorded 5-0 vote approved a special-use permit for a single-family home at 148 Trout Drive, a lot located within Zone 1 of the Watershed Protection District, subject to conditions including adherence to Department of Environmental Management (DEM) permit terms, town stormwater ordinances and a maintenance agreement for the stormwater system.

Attorney David Martland presented the application on behalf of owners Colleen Sullivan Burns and Sean Sullivan, saying the lot is in an R-40 district and totals just over 40,000 square feet. Engineer Michael (Mike) Russell testified that roughly 30% of the lot consists of freshwater wetlands and that the applicants received an DEM permit allowing development within an existing 11,000-square-foot developable envelope.

Martland and Russell told the board the property is served by public water and sewer (no septic) and that the proposed house and site design were developed to address high groundwater and hydric soils. Russell described the stormwater approach as elevated construction on a terrace with a retaining wall, underground stormwater chambers for roof runoff, permeable pavers for the driveway and a vegetated swale at the road. He said those measures are “consistent with what is laid out by DEM for water quality.”

Neighbors raised concerns at the hearing about the lot—s wetness and the proximity of the proposed house to adjacent yards. James LeDuc, who lives next door at 124 Trout Drive, said the lot had been vacant for years and described it as “a swamp,” adding concern about runoff and the driveway placement. Other neighbors described a vernal pond and seasonal wet conditions in back yards.

The board and applicant discussed several technical safeguards: permanent markers to delineate the limit of disturbance, a six-foot vegetated swale between the property line and the driveway, an underground chamber system and an approximate two-foot swale depth for surface treatment where applicable. Russell and the applicant agreed those design elements were intended to keep predevelopment drainage patterns and avoid directing additional runoff onto neighbors— yards.

The motion approved by the board included requirements that the owner maintain the stormwater retention system under a maintenance agreement with the town and comply with DEM permit conditions and recommendations from the planning and conservation commissions. The board recorded the outcome as granted, 5-0.

Why it matters: The decision allows construction in a regulated watershed area while imposing both state and local conditions intended to protect wetlands and downstream properties. The use of a maintenance agreement creates an ongoing requirement for system upkeep by the owner and any subsequent owners.

No litigation, variance requests or dimensional relief were sought; the applicants said the proposal meets zoning dimensional requirements. The board directed that maintenance responsibilities and adherence to DEM conditions be part of the approval record.