Inland Wetlands panel deems Noble Energy proposal significant; schedules April 15 public hearing

The Town of Farmington Inland Wetlands Commission on March 18 voted to classify the site plan submitted by Noble Energy Real Estate Holdings for 8261 Phenomenon Road as a "significant activity" and scheduled a public hearing for April 15.

The commission’s concerns centered on potential effects to nearby vernal-pool habitat, the proximity of planned truck parking and circulation to wetlands, and stormwater treatment for areas draining truck traffic. "We staked out the parking lot behind the warehouse for the tractor trailers. That was the closest point to the vernal pool and it was I believe about 100 ft away," an applicant representative said. Commissioners requested additional verification and mitigation details before final permitting.

Bill Kenny, principal of William Kenny Associates and a professional wetland and soil scientist, told the commission he inspected the pools and concluded the one nearest the proposed development was unlikely to support vernal-pool amphibians. "We determined that that was not a a suitable pool for vernal pool species for amphibians such as wood frogs or spotted salamanders," Kenny said, citing roadway runoff discharging directly to the pool and the absence of a 100-foot forested buffer.

Commissioners nonetheless pressed for more field data. Commissioner Andre Simons asked whether additional spring surveys would be done to check for salamanders, and Commissioner David Fox urged the applicant to provide habitat calculations using 100- and 750-foot radii showing current habitat and projected habitat after the plan’s conservation measures. The applicant agreed to provide those calculations and said it is willing to place a large area of upland forest into a conservation easement to protect habitat.

The commission also discussed site design measures recommended to reduce impacts: raised curbing near the truck-parking area to limit amphibian access to pavement, targeted hydrocarbon controls such as catch-basin filter skirts ahead of hydrodynamic separators for truck areas, and erosion-control choices (straw waddles vs. hay bales) based on site slope.

After debate about the scale and density of the development and whether the April 15 meeting would allow enough time for a spring vernal-pool assessment, the commission voted to declare the project a significant activity and to open a public hearing on April 15. Staff reminded the applicant of noticing obligations and that the record may remain open for additional technical reports; the applicant indicated a professional report would likely be complete by early May if not sooner.

Next steps: the commission will receive the applicant’s spring survey and habitat calculations and hear public comment at the April 15 hearing. The applicant and its wetland scientist have committed to submit additional technical information into the record while the hearing remains open.