Eye on Town Government

By Susan MacEachron

Three public hearings were held at the Planning & Zoning meeting on June 13. Two related to Consolini & Tonan Landscape Design (C&T) regarding their properties at 290 Bruey Road and 15 Pine Ledge Way. The third concerned the need to blast ledge and crush rock at the Haystack Woods development site on Old Colony Road. 

Marc Tonan and Mari Consolini have lived and operated their landscaping business at 290 Bruey Road for many years. They have purchased the adjoining property at 15 Pine Ledge Way and want to combine the two parcels, which means the lot would have two dwellings. They were seeking a permit to make the smaller house at 290 Bruey Road into an accessory dwelling. Town regulations allow accessory dwelling units that do not exceed 1,200 square feet. The house at 290 Bruey Road qualifies. The combined lot, with a residential dwelling and an accessory apartment, meets town regulations and was approved.

The second application was for a modification to their existing special permit for the landscaping business at 290 Bruey Road. They want to expand the business onto the Pine Ledge Way property. Tonan explained that they were not planning any new construction nor any change to the existing business. They just need additional space to facilitate current operations. C&T employs 17 people, an increase of one since the original permit was approved in 2010. Tonan noted that the number of trucks owned by the business have increased over the years.

Several neighbors attended the meeting and expressed concerns regarding increased truck traffic on Pine Ledge Way. They asked P&Z to require C&T to access the property from the Bruey Road entrance for all business use. Another neighbor raised various wetlands concerns and expressed his opposition to the modification because the Pine Ledge Way property is in the Naugatuck River Watershed. Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael Halloran said the wetlands were more than 100 feet from any structure, and consequently no wetlands permits were required.

Another longtime neighbor said that, while the business has grown over the years, Tonan and Consolini have been considerate and responsible business owners. She said their employees were friendly when passing people on the road, and it has been a quiet operation. There were no further comments or questions, and the public hearing closed. Deliberations on the application will continue at the P&Z meeting on July 11.

Kate Johnson, president of the Foundation for Norfolk Living, introduced Ken Hrica, the engineer for the foundation, Bob Rossi of Guerrera Construction, and David D’Ambruoso of D’Ambruoso Blasting. Johnson explained that ledge was discovered at the Haystack Woods development site and has to be removed to complete the infrastructure work.

Hrica presented a site plan map to identify the area where blasting is required. He said that the original plan assumed a significant amount of excavated dirt and gravel would need to be hauled off-site, whereas the crushed rock produced from the blasted ledge could be put to good use on-site. Hrica noted that the grassy slope originally envisioned behind several of the houses will be rock. At the steepest section of the ledge there will be a 20-foot drop to the backyard of several houses. A fence will be installed along the top edge of the ledge.

Hrica described the plan for pre-blasting surveys at the two houses closest to the site, the town garage, the cemetery, and the retaining wall along Route 44. D’Ambruoso described how they would have seismic monitoring at these sites, would check the results every day and keep the records for five years. They do not anticipate that the proposed blasting will cause damage to any of the surrounding locations.

D’Ambruoso described the blasting process and said that the drilling required before blasting produced more noise for a longer period than the actual blasting. It was estimated that this aspect of the infrastructure work would take from eight to 12 weeks to complete. The rock crushing could take up to 12 days. In response to several questions, D’Ambruoso described how they spray water to suppress dust and sound a horn three times before a blast.

Richard Byrne, representing the cemetery across Old Colony Road from the site, expressed concern about the old gravestones, noting that the cemetery dates to 1758 and many of the stones are fragile. Byrne reached out to the Connecticut Department of Transportation with his concerns, and they asked P&Z to incorporate specific conditions into its approval of the work. 

The public hearing closed after all questions were heard. P&Z members deliberated and approved the modification to the Foundation for Norfolk Living’s special permit to allow blasting. The approval was subject to the following conditions: all DOT controlled-blasting protocols be accommodated, the cemetery and Route 44 retaining wall be included in the pre-blast survey and appropriate noise and dust reduction measures outlined by D’Ambruoso be followed.