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Willington commission continues hearing on proposed Polster Road truck wash and small storage building
Summary
The Willington Planning & Zoning Commission continued a July 7 public hearing on JT Properties LLC’s special permit for a 10,000‑sq‑ft truck wash and a 3,000‑sq‑ft, five‑unit storage building on Polster Road after presentations on site design, stormwater controls and traffic studies and extended resident concerns about traffic, roadside truck parking and groundwater. The hearing was continued to July 21 for further technical review and to allow absent members and experts to attend.
The Willington Planning and Zoning Commission continued its public hearing July 7 on a special permit application from JT Properties LLC to build a roughly 10,000‑square‑foot truck wash and a separate 3,000‑square‑foot, five‑unit storage building at 10 Polster Road.
The applicant’s team, led by Peter Valley of Design Professionals, presented site plans for a 12.3‑acre parcel in the town’s DC (design commercial) zone, saying the project sits opposite the Love’s travel center and nearby logistics operations and is intended to generate local tax revenue while avoiding wetlands impacts. "This will be a multimillion dollar development," Valley said, adding that about 35% of the site would be developed and roughly 65% left undisturbed.
Why it matters: Neighbors raised repeated concerns that the project will increase semi‑truck traffic and roadside parking on local roads near Interstate 84’s Exit 71, and pressed the commission for details on stormwater controls and protections for private wells. The developer presented technical responses, including traffic modeling and a description of the truck‑wash water‑recycling system.
Project and technical details The applicant described a two‑building proposal: a three‑bay truck wash (two automated 15–20 minute bays and one manual bay) and a small storage building intended for residential and small‑business users, not tractor‑trailers. The team said the truck wash would contain drainage and treatment systems so wash water is reclaimed and reused on site, while nonrecyclable concentrated waste would be stored in on‑site tanks and removed by a licensed waste hauler.
CarbTroll/Cartrol systems expert Austin Shepherd (remote) described continuous total dissolved solids (TDS) monitoring for the recycling loop and said the system typically triggers a "blowdown" at about 2,500–3,000 parts per million TDS, sending concentrated water to storage tanks for off‑site disposal. "The system has a TDS monitoring system set up to measure and monitor the concentration of dissolved solids," Shepherd said.
On utilities and environmental compliance, the applicant said the septic design was approved by the Eastern Highlands Health District (the presentation referenced July 1), the regulated activity permit for wetlands had been approved, and stormwater and erosion controls were designed to meet Connecticut guidelines. The team estimated about 11,000 cubic yards of earthwork for site construction and emphasized that the design avoids direct disturbance to delineated inland wetlands.
Traffic and safety Traffic consultant Mark Fruttucci presented a turning‑movement and capacity analysis based on January counts grown to a 2028 design year. He reported an expected peak‑hour generation of about 18 truck trips for the wash plus two for the storage building (about 20 peak‑hour trips total). Fruttucci said the majority of truck trips were modeled as "pass‑by" trips from existing traffic to the Love’s/TA/FedEx area and that adding the project trips produced no deterioration in level‑of‑service at studied intersections. He said turning‑path templates (WB67) and emergency vehicle maneuvers were included in the plan set.
Public concerns and commission questions Residents voiced strong concerns about traffic, truck parking on local roads, crash history near the Exit 71 ramps and potential effects on private wells. Veronica Mahalik, a Mahalik Road resident, said she regularly sees tractor‑trailers parked on local roads and described past incidents where emergency access was delayed. "It is absolutely ridiculous," she said.
Neighbors urged the commission to consider measures such as gated access or keycard entry for storage units, guardrails or no‑parking strips along Polster Road, and stronger enforcement of existing parking rules. Several speakers also urged additional monitoring or safeguards for groundwater and wetlands.
The commission asked technical questions about stormwater design points where peak runoff would slightly exceed existing rates for two modeled discharge points; the applicant explained the small, localized increases and pointed to water‑quality basins, drainage depressions and modeled outlet control structures intended to attenuate and treat runoff.
Action and next steps After extended public comment and technical Q&A, a commissioner moved to continue the public hearing to allow absent members and technical experts to participate; the motion passed and the hearing was scheduled to continue on July 21. No final regulatory decision was made at the July 7 meeting.
What remains open - Additional traffic and winter‑event scenario detail requested by commissioners and residents; the applicant said remote experts would attend the continued session. - The commission asked for any missing turning‑movement exhibits and for clarification of how off‑site blowdown water will be handled; the applicant said the plan set includes turning diagrams and that waste haulers licensed by the state will remove stored blowdown.
The commission will reconvene the public hearing on July 21 to receive additional technical information and hear from any members not present on July 7.
