Stonington — A group of Old Mystic residents are raising concerns about a Smith Street property owner who cleared away brush in an uplands review area within 100 feet of a wetland without permission and is now seeking a permit to build a home.

A total of 150 of them signed an online petition calling on the Stonington Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission to hold a public hearing on the application by Coast Development Group of Newport, R.I., for the permit at 16 Smith St.

At that July 7 hearing, seven residents spoke in opposition to the permit. The commission continued the hearing to Aug. 4, so the developer's soil scientist can be present to answer questions.

On Nov. 23, 2021, Smith Street resident Jonathan Fontanella reported to the town that a section of wetlands on the property was being cleared down to the mud. Wetlands Enforcement Officer Candace Palmer met that day with Glenn Callahan and Dan O'Brien, whom she described at the time as the prospective buyers of the property. Callahan is now identified on the Smith Street application as an agent for Coast Development, which bought the 1.5-acre property and its small home on Dec. 21, 2021. The entity also purchased another property at 13 Smith St. Callahan could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Palmer wrote in her "Complaint of Wetlands Violation" that it appeared scrub brush had been cleared from the wetlands area for future construction but no soil had been disturbed. She ordered Coast Development to stop all activities until the wetlands borders had been located and the extent of the violation had been determined. She later wrote that Coast's wetlands permit application showed that all activities took place outside the actual wetlands.

Neighbors say that Old Mystic contains an inland, freshwater marsh that is the largest in southeastern Connecticut and is crucial in preventing widespread flooding in Old Mystic, filtering ground water that drains into the Mystic River and providing habitat for birds and wildlife. The northern part of that wetland extends up into properties on the south side of Smith Street, where 16 Smith St. is located.

At the public hearing, project engineer Peter Gardner told the commission there is a small section of wetlands in the southeast corner of the property but no activity is proposed for the wetlands area, according to the draft meeting minutes.

He also told the commission that runoff from the house and property will be stopped by a berm, or raised bank, before it reaches the wetlands and also channeled into a rain garden, or depressed area intended to capture water and allow it to seep into the ground. But neighbors expressed concerns about the effectiveness and maintenance of the rain garden to store water and if it could handle large storms. In March 2010, a sudden storm flooded a large area of Old Mystic near Smith Street.

In his written report, the project's soil scientist Ian Cole reported that, in his professional judgement, the project "will not have a long term negative or adverse effect on the natural capacity of the wetlands or the functions and services they provide."

"Post development the wetland will still have the same ability to perform its existing functions," he wrote.

Commission member Dennis Unites asked Coast Development if an outside soil scientist could study the wetlands. But Coast Development said it would not approve an outside study of the property, according to the minutes. Neighbors have raised questions about the accuracy of Cole's study. 

Town Engineer Christopher Greenlaw also made 15 comments about the project's design, including that of the rain garden, and they have been addressed by Coast Development.

j.wojtas@theday.com