Developer resubmits plan for development in East Lyme
East Lyme — Real Estate Service of Conn Inc., an Old Saybrook company, has resubmitted an application to develop acreage at Green Valley Lakes and Spring Rock roads.
The town's Inland Wetlands Agency had denied last August the development company’s application for a permit to build the road and infrastructure for a 25-lot "Twin Valley" re-subdivision on 97 acres near the Four Mile River. The developer has said the proposal would extend the existing "Green Valley Lakes" subdivision built in the 1960s and '70s.
In its permit denial, the Inland Wetlands Agency cited concerns over the ability of the proposed development's stormwater system and the site's soils to mitigate the impact on wetlands and watercourses, and the developer, Bob Fusari Jr., later filed an appeal in Superior Court in New London challenging the decision.
The developer submitted revised plans to the Inland Wetlands Agency in an effort to resolve the appeal, and the Inland Wetlands Agency reviewed the plans in executive session, according to Gary Goeschel II, the town's inland wetlands agent and planning director. The Inland Wetlands Agency did not take action on the plans, he said.
The developer then took the revised plan and submitted a revised application that went to an Inland Wetlands Agency public hearing on Monday, said Timothy Hollister, attorney for Fusari. Specifically, the application for a permit "to conduct regulated activities within the 100-foot upland review area from wetlands and watercourses associated with construction of a road" associated with the 23-lot re-subdivision.
Plans for the revised proposal show two lots, out of the original 25 building lots proposed under the initial application, will instead serve as drainage areas.
Monday's hearing included a presentation from the applicant on the changes from the previous application and comments from one resident, according to Goeschel. Brian Lepkowski, an abutting property owner, has filed a petition to intervene in the application and submitted reports from experts.
The Inland Wetlands Agency hearing will be continued at a special meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, July 2, when more residents are expected to speak. Neighbors have been vocal in opposition to the initial application during earlier hearings.
The Planning Commission opened its hearing on Tuesday, but continued it until July without hearing comments, because the Inland Wetlands Agency had not yet made a decision and because the commission wanted to allow a full board to be present to hear testimony.
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