North Stonington hears proposal for extreme sports

North Stonington - Instead of a controversial 400-unit affordable-housing complex on Boombridge Road, town officials might soon see a proposal to turn the expansive former gravel pit into an outdoor, non-motorized extreme sports venue.

The Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday heard a preliminary proposal from Mystic resident Tom Vignato to develop the 100-acre property with sport bicycling tracks, a paintball area and other facilities for so-called extreme sports. He said there are no similar facilities in the region - at least none that are legal.

Vignato said he toured the property recently and found well-developed tracks already in use by motorcycles. He said his proposal would not include any motorized sports, such as motorcycles or all-terrain vehicles.

He said the former gravel operation and the existing tracks would make developing the site for outdoor extreme sports easy. He said he would make minimal improvements, with portable toilets to start and a tent to accept admission fees. The site is isolated from neighbors and near Interstate 95. Vignato said the drone of highway traffic would mask any noise from the operation.

The project would be a for-profit venue, with memberships and day fees to cover his costs, Vignato said. He called it a weekend hobby operation, as he would keep his job as a hotel manager at the Mohegan Sun casino. He said he would drive his pickup truck with a trailer to haul equipment to the site on weekends, and pack it up again to leave at the end of each weekend.

The property, owned by James Romanella, was the site of a highly controversial Garden Court 408-unit affordable-housing complex proposal rejected by the PZC. The developer initially sued the town over the denial, but then withdrew the lawsuit as the housing market plummeted.

PZC members welcomed the idea of placing an outdoor sports and recreation complex at the site, but currently, the town has no permitting mechanism to approve such a project.

Senior Town Planner Juliet Leeming said the property is in an R-60 zone, a residential zone that requires a minimum lot size of 1½ acres to build a house. There are no regulations that would cover the operation, she told the commission. Current regulations for sports fields and clubs are for nonprofit entities.

Leeming and commission members asked Vignato to research regulations in other towns that permit such facilities and then propose regulations to the commission. They also asked him to research insurance requirements for such a facility and to keep in mind that any development would have to have access for emergency vehicles and an area suitable for parking. The property now has a long dirt driveway entrance off Boombridge Road.

Leeming suggested the proposed use could be added to town regulations as a special permit in an R-60 zone, which would require a public hearing.

Commission attorney Michael Carey also recommended that Vignato read engineering reports on file for the Garden Court project, as they describe current environmental conditions of the property.

After his presentation, Vignato said he hoped to have the facility open by mid-summer.

"It's basically ready," he said.