East Lyme — The Inland Wetlands Agency on Monday closed a continued public hearing on a 23-lot re-subdivision at Green Valley Lakes and Spring Rock Roads and will begin deliberations at its next meeting.

The agency late on Monday evening directed the town attorney and staff to draft comments so the agency can discuss the application at its next meeting, which will be held at a date to be determined.

At a public hearing on July 2, speakers opposed to the application said the plan would have a negative effect on wildlife and the nearby wetlands and Four Mile River, and said the proposed density is too high for the site. The developer's representatives countered that the plan, an extension of a subdivision built decades earlier, calls for 72.8 percent open space and would cause no direct impact to wetlands.

The application from Bob Fusari Jr., of Real Estate Service of Conn. Inc., an Old Saybrook company, is to build the road for the 23-lot "Twin Valley" development and revises an earlier 25-lot application by designating two of the lots as drainage areas. The Inland Wetlands Agency had denied the first application last year, and Fusari then appealed the decision in state Superior Court.

On Monday, Steve Trinkaus, principal engineer at Trinkaus Engineering, a representative for an abutting property owner, Brian Lepkowski, argued that the application's stormwater basins are not designed properly to address water quality issues.

Trinkaus said an alternative would be to relocate the road and avoid placing one of the detention basins on an ill-fitting lot and instead install a constructed wetlands system. He said similar modifications could be made to the other drainage area. He added that he believes the best option is to redesign the whole site to have a low-impact development system.

Joe Wren, licensed professional engineer for the developer, said the developer had revised the plan to address all the comments the agency made in its denial last year, and the stormwater management system would work. He said the system is in compliance with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's stormwater quality manual and the town engineer has reviewed the plan.

He said there is insufficient area for the system Trinkaus is proposing, and the proposed relocation of the road would bring the road closer to the wetlands.

Several residents on Monday raised concerns over the proposal. Among them was resident Alisa Sheriff, who said Four Mile River is in her backyard and her house was built in 1978 as part of the existing subdivision. The reason why people said more houses weren't built around the corner from her home at the time was because of the wetlands.

"Everybody knew there were wetlands," she said. "Forty years ago, they didn't want to do it, they haven't wanted to do it since, so we just think that it shouldn't be built. It should remain wetlands."

In closing comments, Timothy Hollister, the developer's attorney, said the agency should approve the application because there is no direct disturbance on the wetlands and no evidence of adverse impacts, and the town engineer agrees. He said the plan minimizes lot density, responds to the 2017 denial and, aside from a few technical revisions the developer has agreed to, no feasible alternative to the plan exists.

The Planning Commission was scheduled to start the discussion of Fusari's application at a public hearing Tuesday and expected to continue the hearing, as the Inland Wetlands Agency has not yet made a decision, according to East Lyme Planning Director and Inland Wetlands Agent Gary Goeschel II.

k.drelich@theday.com