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Board approves variance to enclose compactor at plant adjacent to homes
Summary
The Naugatuck Board of Appeals approved a variance allowing a food manufacturer to add a 420 sq ft enclosure to move a trash compactor indoors, reducing neighborhood noise. Neighbors were told the setback will be 43.5 feet from the residential property line and the zoning commission must still sign off on a site plan modification.
The Naugatuck Board of Appeals on March 25 approved a variance that will let a local food manufacturer build a 420-square-foot addition to enclose a waste compactor, moving the equipment away from an adjacent residential property line.
At the public hearing, an applicant representative told the board the compactor sits at the westerly boundary of the industrial parcel and is a source of noise for nearby homes. "The compactor will be moved inside the building," the representative said, adding the change will be "more efficient for the business" and "further away from the neighbors and be less annoying to them." He said the addition is roughly 420 square feet and will require roughly a 7-foot variance from the 50-foot residential setback (plans show a 43.5-foot setback).
The representative described the building as a former ice cream factory now producing plant-based products and said production has grown from about 10,000 to 50,000 units per week, prompting the need to reconfigure loading and waste-handling areas. He noted the proposed work will not alter the existing parking lot on the opposite side of the building and that the loading docks there do not require a variance.
Neighbor Rabbina Ra of 23 Brennan Street asked whether the work would affect her fence or property lines; the board and the applicant’s representative said the fence and visual buffer would remain and that the compactor would be moved back into the building. "It doesn't seem like it's going to affect the fence or my property lines," Rabbina said during public comment.
After brief board questions about the drawings and exact setback measurement, the board closed the public hearing and moved to approve Appeal 2065, granting a variance so the building addition may sit approximately 43 feet from the residential property line for the property identified in the hearing. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
The chair noted that the variance permits the setback relief only; the applicant must still obtain a modified site-plan approval from the zoning commission before construction. The board also said the decision will be published and that a 15-day appeal period will follow.
