Ledyard zoning officer investigates town official's land

Ledyard - The town's zoning enforcement official said excavation on the property of William Geer, the former chairman and a current member of the town's Zoning Commission, could be violating Ledyard's zoning regulations.

But Geer called the actions of Scott Duffus, the zoning enforcement official, an attempt to derail a proposed regulation change, approved last Thursday, that would give the Zoning Commission the authority to enforce land use regulations when the official is away or in emergency situations.

On Dec. 18, Duffus wrote to Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr. about property on Thomas Road controlled through a family trust by William Geer. Duffus said the land appeared to be the site of a gravel operation where he estimated 15,000 cubic yards of material could have been removed.

"The Town of Ledyard Zoning Regulations do provide a process to obtain a permit for an operation like this and there are limited exemptions for farming activities, but I have yet to find any documentation on this activity," Duffus wrote. "To my knowledge there is no oversight on the operation."

At present, there are no gravel operations with permits in Ledyard, Duffus said.

"I told him that since it was an enforcement issue that he had to go to the Zoning Commission and not to me, since I have no authority over that issue," Allyn said Monday.

On Jan. 21, a month after Duffus' letter to Allyn and following an inquiry by The Day, Duffus wrote to Geer and his wife, Diane, about the property at 46 Thomas Road and 943 Colonel Ledyard Highway, which the couple owns.

Both are zoned for residential use or farming, Duffus said.

In his letter to Geer, Duffus said satellite photographs taken in 2009 and posted online at www.ledyardgis.com, which contains information about every property in town, seem to show heavy equipment, excavated pits and piles of dirt and logs on both properties, and two school buses on the Colonel Ledyard Highway land.

Geer questioned the timing of Duffus' letter, calling it "more than a little suspicious." He said that similar work has been happening on his family's land for decades.

"He knew what has been going on at all these places for all this time," Geer said Monday. "But it seems now he wants to stir something up to deter from this regulation he obviously didn't want in place."

The Geers wrote back to Duffus, saying the visible work was part of "a continuous process to develop productive farmland" that began in the 1930s when William Geer's grandfather, Earl Geer Sr., owned the land. William Geer was named trustee of the Thomas Road property in 2000, when his mother, Dorothy, died.

"The soil removal here to make hayfields and the pastures has been happening since the '30s," Geer said. "But even if I'd only been doing this for three years, that would still be allowed under the regulations."

Section 12.5 of the town's zoning regulations, which pertain to soil, gravel and stone removal, say that a permit is required to remove gravel except in specific cases, including on a farm.

In the 1960s, the Geers wrote, the state considered taking the farm and surrounding properties through eminent domain to build a reservoir for Montville. At the same time, the town of Ledyard removed materials from the property for road construction and repair, "thus continuing the creation of additional farmland," the Geers wrote.

"As you know, in New England, productive farmland is not born," the Geers wrote. "It evolves over years through good stewardship of the land."

The site on the Colonel Ledyard Highway property, the Geers wrote, is a staging area for logs and wood that were cut down on the farm, part of an effort to create new pastures.

Though William Geer said the properties do not violate zoning regulations, Duffus said he wants the matter further examined.

Duffus said that, at its meeting last Thursday, the Zoning Commission discussed having a third party evaluate the Thomas Road and Colonel Ledyard Highway properties Geer owns, but said it did not make a final decision on how to move forward.

Kevin Dombrowksi, the commission chairman, could not be reached for comment on Monday.