Diana Stricker Photo
Members of IWC
The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) will hold a special meeting and public hearing in January to discuss proposed amendments to the new regulations that were approved in May. These proposals are in response to legal appeals filed in Superior Court by four developers after the new regulations were approved. The public hearing will be held Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Canoe Brook Senior Center.
The newly released proposed amendments were filed in the town clerk’s office Wednesday and the same information was posted on the Inland Wetland Department’s web site.
The decision to hold a special meeting and public hearing resulted from a closed executive session the IWC held last week. Carolyn W. Kone, a land use attorney with Brenner, Salzmann & Wallman LLP in New Haven, attended the session to discuss regulation issues with the commission. The law firm, along with attorney Bill Aniskovich, represents the town.
Diana Ross, the Inland Wetlands Environmental Director, told the Eagle the public has input into any changes to IWC regulations, so the amendments are not set in stone.
Six Month Stay
The IWC has been holding closed executive sessions since the commission voted in August to put the new regulations on hold for six months and operate under the previous ones.
That action also put a six-month stay on court proceedings involving the four appeals. However, the hold or “stay” allowed the parties to continue to confer on the 2016 regulations with the idea of resolving the developers’ appeals.
The six-month stay last August was approved by Superior Court Judge Marshall K. Berger, Jr. who oversees the Land Use Litigation Docket in Hartford Superior Court. Attorney Janet Brooks, one of the state’s leading environmental attorneys and an expert in the field, represents Charles Weber and Al Secondino’s 595 Corporate Circle corporation, the developers overseeing the Costco project. Brooks requested the IWC cases be moved from the New Haven Superior Court to Judge Berger’s court in Hartford.
Reactions to New Regulations
A firestorm of dissent erupted after the IWC voted 4 – 3 to adopt new regulations May 12.
First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove issued a press release at that time calling the action on “an unprecedented abuse of power.” The developers filed the four lawsuits a short time later.
The developers who are appealing the new IWC regulations include Weber and Secondino through their 595 Corporate Circle corporation; Secondino and Michael Belfonti through their Bittersweet Partners LLC corporation; Rita Ann Sachs and New World Recycling; and Alex Vigliotti of Vigliotti Construction Co.
Weber and Secondino, through their 595 Corporate Circle corporation, own a 16.5 acre parcel, which is part of the 44-acre Planned Development District (PDD) at Exit 56. Plans called for six commercial buildings on their property.
In addition, Weber and Secondino have an option to purchase a 22.36-acre site owned by Wayne Cooke and the Cooke family corporations where Costco proposed to build.
It had been speculated that developers of the 44-acre Costco commercial would re-file their applications at some point. After months of hearings, they withdrew their applications in April, shortly before the IWC was scheduled to vote on the projects.
One of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in Branford is owned by Secondino and Belfonti through their corporations, Bittersweet Partners and Alterra Holdings. That includes 71 acres of the former Bittersweet Farm property off Route 1 and an adjacent 50 acres to the south, off Sycamore Way.
The IWC court filing in August stated that “all parties have agreed that during the (six-month) stay they shall confer to determine if there are amendments to the 2016 regulations which “are mutually acceptable to all parties and which, if adopted by the defendant (the IWC), would resolve these matters.” Adoption of new or revised IWC regulations also requires public input.
While public input is required on what are considered important new amendments to the regulations, the IWC scheduled this public hearing on the same date as the regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning & Zoning Commission, which will likely be holding public hearings also. Special meetings may be scheduled for any date.
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