Inland Wetlands Approves Municipal Garage Site Plan, Addresses Woodridge Lake Shoreline Projects
Unpermitted lakefront wall at 209 West Hyerdale Drive
On October 5th, the Inland Wetlands Commission conducted their monthly meeting at Town Hall. Present were commissioners Allan Kinsella, Rick Wadhams, Ray Turri, Lorraine Lucas and Devin Stillson. Chairman Tom Stansfield and Commissioners Brandy Summerlin and Philip Koenig were absent. Kinsella chaired the meeting in Stansfield’s absence. Also present were Enforcement Officer Martin Connor and 1st Selectman Todd Carusillo as well as a number of individuals with business before the commission.
Garrett Harlow, on behalf of the Town of Goshen, presented the site plan for construction of a new Municipal and Fire Company storage building at 190 Sharon Turnpike. The plan calls for a 160’ x 85’ x 35’H metal building and addresses runoff and an incursion into wetlands present on the property with a bioswale and a rain garden in the southeast corner of the site. In a motion made by Turri and seconded by Stillson, the commission voted to approve the application.
Applications were also approved for the revised plan for a new dwelling on Brynmoor Court and for rebuilding of parking lots at the Goshen Housing Trust property on Torrington Road. An after-the-fact application was also approved for repair of pipes under the driveway at 610 North Street, which had been damaged during the heavy rain events in July. Unapproved repair work in progress had been halted by the enforcement officer pending receipt and approval of an application to the commission.
Three Woodridge Lake shoreline projects were also on the Commission agenda. The first was a shoreline stabilization project for 192 E. Hyerdale Drive, involving design of a wall to address severe erosion on a steep section of lakefront. Applications for projects at Woodridge Lake must receive approval from both the Inland Wetlands Commission and Woodridge Lake’s Environmental Control Committee (ECC). The ECC generally refuses to approve any lakefront walls, as the Association’s Deed Restrictions allow only for placement of rip-rap that follows the natural contours of the lake shoreline. In informal meetings with representatives of the Association and the ECC, however, it was determined that rip-rap on the scale required to stabilize this property would be an eyesore, and an engineered dry-stack stone wall was suggested. The commission will allow the application to continue pending further engineering input. No plan has yet been submitted to the ECC.
The property at 411 Milton Road, which was clear-cut last year without Inland Wetlands approval, has continued to experience erosion issues, which the owner and a landscape architect claim they are working to mitigate. The property remains under enforcement action for the clear-cut violation and no approval of plans for construction of a dwelling will be entertained until the water problems are modulated.
Finally, an after-the-fact application for removal of a lakefront wall constructed last year at 209 West Hyerdale Drive without either Inland Wetlands or ECC approval was accepted. The cemented stone wall would be dismantled by hand and the rocks cleaned and reused as riprap, as directed by the Woodridge Lake Board in their internal enforcement action. The ECC had raised esthetic objections to the wall, as they prefer more natural-looking stone walls without cement. With the acceptance of the application, the Commission can vote to approve it at the next meeting, provided there is no petition received requesting a public hearing.
