Danbury ad hoc panel backs subordinations to secure environmental restriction at 89 Rose Hill Avenue

An ad hoc committee of Danbury officials voted to recommend that the City Council authorize the mayor to execute subordination agreements needed to secure an environmental land use restriction (ELUR) for 89 Rose Hill Avenue, the site of a former hat factory that now houses the Center for Empowerment, the committee was told.

The recommendation followed explanations from corporation counsel Rick Gottschalk and outside counsel from Kramer and Anderson that the state requires any preexisting interests in the property be subordinated so the DEP’s ELUR will have priority on the land records. "If you dug up the land, you'd have to remediate it," Kramer and Anderson counsel said in describing the restriction’s purpose and consequences.

Why it matters: the ELUR is the final recorded step that protects the public and allows a licensed environmental professional (LEP) to issue a statutory verification that remediation met Connecticut standards. Counsel said the city previously secured demolition and cleanup grants — including a roughly $1,300,000 remediation grant in 2019 — and that the ELUR and subordinations are part of the grant conditions and DEP application process.

What the lawyers said: counsel from Kramer and Anderson explained that an ELUR functions like an environmental easement recorded on the land records; it will include a fact sheet and maps that identify five noncontiguous monitoring/restricted areas and bar excavation without DEP approval. Counsel also identified Arcadis and the LEP Russell (Russ) Dorenzo as the consultant and licensed professional expected to carry the process forward once the ELUR is recorded.

Questions from members: committee member Holly Robinson asked whether the building currently used for temporary housing would be subject to the ELUR; counsel replied the structure itself is not included in the restricted areas (likely because it sits on a concrete foundation) and that the ELUR should not affect current use for temporary housing. Counsel further explained that subordinations are largely technical for the city’s record but are required to embed in the DEP application so the LEP can later issue a verification.

Sale, reversion and easements: members pressed whether subordinations would impair city easements or the owner's ability to sell. Counsel said the city’s existing rights — including a right to reacquire the property or a first-refusal if the center stopped using the site as intended — remain in place; subordinations are intended to make the ELUR the controlling interest on the records so the state’s remediation protections are preserved.

Vote and next steps: Holly Robinson moved that the committee recommend the City Council authorize the mayor to execute the certificates of agreement to subordinate and the subordinations described in the resolution; the motion was seconded and advanced by voice vote in committee (a verbal "Aye" was recorded in the transcript; a roll-call tally was not recorded). Counsel said the signed subordinations will be embedded in the DEP application; after DEP review and the issuance and recording of the ELUR, the LEP will be able to submit a statutory verification to complete the remediation process.

The committee did not record a formal roll-call vote in the transcript. The next procedural step described by counsel is submission of the ELUR application to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and subsequent review and verification by the LEP.