IWC Chair Cautions Costco

Costco’s new application arrived at the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) Thursday night, triggering a new public hearing date as well as notice to the Costco attorneys that the IWC does not want to have ​“a continuously changing project.”

IWC chair Daniel Shapiro cautioned Costco’s attorneys that he did not want to keep restarting the process that involves huge applications and three sets of hearings. A new public hearing date was set for Jan. 14.

“It’s not fair for the commission, it’s not fair for the public, it’s not fair for whoever’s doing the peer review to have a moving application,” said Shapiro (pictured center).

Costco withdrew its applications Tuesday, ones that had been submitted to the IWC in September, so the public hearings originally scheduled for last night were cancelled. Click here to read about the announcement at last week’s special meeting. Costco then re-submitted new applications this week.

Diana Ross, the Inland Wetlands Environmental Director, is pictured above distributing some of the new paperwork for the Costco project.

The complete applications and maps are a voluminous amount of material. There are actually three applications, one for each of the undeveloped properties in the 44-acre Costco commercial complex at Exit 56. The Planned Development District (PD) and Master Plan for Costco and seven other commercial buildings were approved by the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission July 9 by a 3-2 vote. Click here to read about that. As part of the process, the developers must also seek approval of detailed site plans from both the IWC and then the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

Shapiro expressed his concerns about the withdrawal and re-submission process and any changes that might occur in the future. “I just want to put the applicant on notice that it isn’t fair to all those involved to have a continuously changing project,” he said last night.

New or Not New

Costco attorney Thomas Cody, with the Robinson & Cole law firm in Hartford, explained why the three applications were withdrawn and re-filed. He said the new applications are for “the same properties and essentially the same projects that you saw in the first set of applications. We’ve done this principally for the reason that we wanted to re-set the clock.”

Cody said they were mindful of the statutory timeframe constraints and that now there could be up to 65 days before a public hearing has to be opened, and that would give more time for the commission and their consultants to review the applications.

It would also give the Costco team more time to review the reports filed by the peer review consultants before the public hearings begin.

Cody said the projects are the same but said there are some changes to the new applications. “There are three changes or additions that we have made to this,” he said. “There is no change in the scope of the project—- the buildings, the parking, the drive aisles, the access, the areas of upland review area activity would remain the same.”

Shapiro told the Costco team: “It thought you were going to come back with the same application, it’s similar but not exactly the same.”

Shapiro said he was concerned there might be more changes to the applications in the future. He cited regulations that if an application continues to change and if the changes are significant, it would require submission of a yet another new application, which would again restart the process.

The IWC typically hires consultants to do peer reviews of major applications to provide expertise to the commission. The costs are paid by the developer.

Cody said that the applications are new, and that the team did not wait until the hearings began to submit them.

The letter notifying the IWC that Costco intended to withdraw and re-file was dated Nov. 4, one day after the local municipal election and eight days before the scheduled public hearing. 

“We’ve elected to start over,” Cody said. “Going forward we do want to have a good rapport with the commission. Where it may be appropriate, we may propose a modification to our application to address a question, comment or concern,” he said, adding they will conform with the timeframes and regulations.

Hearing Date?

Cody requested a hearing date of Jan. 14, but Shapiro said December would be better. “It’s in the commission’s best interest to open this hearing as soon as possible, to give as much time as possible for the public hearings and deliberations,” Shapiro said.

Joseph Montesano, Costco’s real estate expert, said the applications were re-submitted to give the town and the applicant an opportunity to read the peer reviews. “These changes are so insignificant,” Montesano said in regard to the new applications. “The scope has not changed one iota.”

Montessano said Costco’s goal is to “deliver to this community the absolute best project we possibly can.” He said the January hearing date would be best because it comes after the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Commission Weighs In

The commission eventually agreed on the January 14 date by a 4-3 margin, after each member voiced an opinion.

The three newly appointed IWC members — Richard K. Greenalch, Merle Berke-Schlessel, and James L. Goggin all spoke in favor of a January hearing rather than December. They are pictured seated from left above.

Berke-Schlessel said she thought the December date might rush the process.

The three new members were recently appointed by First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove after he chose not to re-appoint three long-standing IWC members who wished to remain on the board. Click here to read about that.

IWC member Peter Basserman agreed with the latter date. ​“I don’t see any downside to January.”

IWC members James Killelea and John Rusatsky agreed with Shapiro on the December date. IWC member Suzanne Botta arrived later in the meeting, and Stephen Gagni, an alternate was absent.

The IWC is comprised of 10 members, including three alternates. There is currently a vacancy on the commission. Long-time member Robert Valley, an engineer, died in September after serving on the commission 31 years. The commission presented him with a special recognition award on his deathbed to acknowledge his years of service and dedication to the IWC.

Costco Team Explains the Changes

Attorney Cody (pictured far right) brought his team to explain the changes and answer any questions.

Cody said the first of the three changes came in response to questions raised by the commission at the October meeting regarding the project’s potential for downstream impacts from storm water drainage.

“Our professional team … has studied the drainage leaving the site, including the potential for any impacts downstream of this property,” Cody said. He said the new application includes a summary of the engineering analysis that had already been done. “This is not a change to the application, it is just additional information,” he said, adding that they don’t believe there are any downstream impacts. “We don’t believe there are any, we want to show you how we reached that conclusion,” he said.

Cody said the other changes regarded the drainage flows and additional information on wetland mitigation and the construction of the storm water management basins.

Michael S. Klein, a wetlands scientist with Environmental Planning Services LLC of West Hartford, gave a brief summary of the report and changes. He said he met with Branford environmentalist Bill Horne and that they walked the downstream areas, which include open space properties owned by the Branford Land Trust. “Our impacts to that system are negligible,” Kline said.

Peer Reviewers Chosen

The commission then reviewed proposals from consultants who responded to the commission’s Requests for Proposals (RFP) for peer reviews. After a brief discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to select the consulting firm of Malone & MacBroom, which is headquartered in Cheshire. The company is one of the largest engineering and environmental consulting firms in the Northeast. A member of that team, David Sullivan, a traffic engineer, compiled the peer review for the P&Z Commission during the Costco public hearings for the Master Plans.

The peer review reports are due for completion five days before the commission’s December 10 meeting.

The consultants will be reviewing the site plans for each of the three undeveloped properties in Costco’s Master Plan. Those include properties owned by Wayne Cooke and the Cooke family corporations who own a 22.36-acre site where Costco plans to build; Charles E. Weber Jr. and Al Secondino, and their 595 Corporate Circle corporation, who own a 16.56-acre parcel where six buildings are proposed; and trustee Peter G. Mandragouras, who owns a 1.73 acre site, where one building is proposed.

Town attorney William Aniskovich attended the meeting but did not speak during the session. He typically attends all Costco hearings. Aniskovich previously advised the commission that three separate public hearings have to be held—one for each of the properties.

###