Commission says Landmark application inconsistent with East Lyme's town plan
East Lyme — The Planning Commission unanimously found on Tuesday that Landmark Development's petition for the Oswegatchie Hills is inconsistent with the town's Plan of Conservation and Development.
The Planning Commission's referral will be sent to the Zoning Commission in time for its public hearing on the petition at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Nett Hall at Camp Niantic. The Zoning Commission will ultimately vote on Landmark's application.
Landmark Development wants to rezone 123 acres in the hills into an affordable housing district, setting aside 36 acres for development and 87 acres for open space. Landmark's plan is to build 840 residential units within 24 buildings and 1,767 parking spaces.
The petition is part of a remand order from a state Superior Court judge, stemming from the developer's appeal of the Zoning Commission's 2005 decision on an affordable housing application.
Recently, Glenn Russo, Landmark's developer signed a memorandum of understanding with First Selectman Mark Nickerson to try to find alternative land to swap for Landmark's 236 acres in the hills.
Meanwhile, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and its program Save the Sound have intervened under the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act to oppose the application.
The nonprofit organization also argued in a previous letter, sent to the town's Zoning Commission and Inland Wetlands Agency, that Landmark should have submitted a corresponding application to the Inland Wetlands Agency before submitting a site plan and should have also submitted "information required to evaluate coastal impacts" under the state's Coastal Management Act. It also claims the plans submitted for wastewater treatment were "inadequate."
Meanwhile, the Friends of the Oswegatchie Hills Nature Preserve and Save the River-Save the Hills submitted an engineering report by Trinkaus Engineering, which they commissioned. The report states the application would affect the "down gradient wetlands and watercourses on the site."
k.drelich@theday.com
Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich
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