PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION

TOWN OF DEEP RIVER, CONNECTICUT Town Hall 174 Main Street Deep River, Connecticut 06417

A regular meeting of the Deep River Planning and Zoning Commission held on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at the Deep River Town Hall was called to order at 7:34 p.m. Members present: Janet Edgerton, Nancy Fischbach, Thomas Griffin, Fred Hellmers, Jane Samuels, Tom Walsh and Alternates John Attridge, Leigh Balducci, and Jan Deutsch. Absent: Jonathan Kastner. Also present: Russell Marth, Karen Lepeika, Paul SantaBarbara, and Nancy Howard (Recording Secretary)(arrived at 8:00 p.m.). Vice Chairman Nancy Fischbach was Acting Chairman for the meeting. The Acting Chairman seated Alternate Attridge for the absent member.
Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Jane Samuels and seconded by Tom Griffin to approve the minutes of the Public Hearing of March 13, 2008 and Special Meeting of March 13, 2008 as printed. Abstain: Hellmers, Edgerton, Attridge. Approved. A motion was made by Tom Griffin and seconded by Jane Samuels to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 20, 2008 as printed. Abstain: Hellmers, Attridge, Edgerton. Approved.
Payment of Bills: The following bills were received: Hartford Courant, legal advertising, $153.60; Nancy Howard, clerical services, 30.75 hours; and Howard and McMillan, legal fees for General Matters $62.00 and Prisley $1,751.50 for a total of $1,813.50. A motion was made by Tom Walsh and seconded by Tom Griffin to approve payment of the bills as presented. Voted Unanimously.
Correspondence: The following correspondence was received: (a) letter dated 3/25/08 from CT DOT to Fuss & O’Neil regarding the sewer extension from Chester to Deep River; (b) letter dated 3/20/08 from CT DOT to Walter Jobst, Jr. of The Huntington Company regarding Walgreens at 180 Main Street; (c) letter dated 3/21/08

T.Y. Culver of Westbrook regarding the concerns for placing an extremely heavy load on the second floor addition for storage at the former Swan Funeral Home (Shore Discount Liquors) and concern of the bearing strength of the ground due to the high ground water. Members noted that the questions raised are a Building Official matter. (d) letter dated 4/11/08 from B&L Construction, Inc., site construction company for Walgreens, asking to make two substitutions on the landscaping plan. They propose to replace the 9'-10' high columnar white pines with 9'-10' high arborvitae; and change the pine needle mulch to shredded bark mulch. The landscaping plans were not available to identify the locations on the site. Commission members agreed to delegate this matter to the ZEO with the understanding that if the height is compromised, the Commission would not approve the change; and there would be concern if the number of trees were not increased so that there would be the coverage. The ZEO would be authorized to approve the change contingent upon accommodation of the Commission’s concerns. (e) letter from the Land Use Academy announcing their upcoming schedule.

Philip Coles, 40 Lobb Lane (Map 69, Lot 22): An Application for Special Permit, Application #41, was received from Philip Coles for the purpose of an addition to a single family home in the Gateway Conservation Zone at 40 Lobb Lane (Map 69, Lot 22). The applicant was not present. A letter dated April 9, 2008 was received from the Conn. River Gateway Commission. A motion was made by Jane Samuels and seconded by Tom Griffin to receive the application for special permit by Philip Coles, Application #41, and to schedule a public hearing for Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 6:45 p.m. Voted Unanimously.

Mark Parquette, 17 River Street (Map 57, Lot 100): An Application for Special Permit, Application #42, was received from Mark Parquette for the purpose of use of two rooms on the first floor for small yoga classes at 17 River Street (Map 57, Lot 100). The applicant was not present. A motion was made by Fred Hellmers and seconded by John Attridge to receive the application for special permit by Mark Parquette, Application #42, and to schedule a public hearing for Thursday, May 15, 2008 starting at 6:45 p.m. Voted Unanimously.
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Integrated Waste Solutions, Commercial Drive: Representative was not present. [Discussed later in the meeting.]
Town Plan of Conservation and Development: Nancy Fischbach noted that when the Plan was prepared, the sewer and water map was not available. Within 60 days after adoption of the Plan, the Commission must notify the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management of any inconsistencies between the town and the state plan and provide the reasons for the inconsistencies. The notification was not made since the final copy was not available. The approval of the Plan needs to be reaffirmed. The public hearing would be a formality to include the sewer and water map as part of the plan. A motion was made by Tom Griffin and seconded by Jane Samuels to schedule a public hearing for Thursday, May 15, 2008 starting at 6:45 p.m. for amendment to the Plan of Conservation and Development to correct a procedural order due to the lateness of acquiring maps. Voted Unanimously.
Reports: (a) Attorney: No report.

(b): Engineer: No report.

(c): ZEO: Memo was received from the ZEO regarding the two new applications by Philip Coles and Mark Parquette. The applicants will be notified of the sign posting requirement for the public hearing.

The Commission members indicated that they would like to see a monthly list of permits issued by the ZEO. Nancy Fischbach inquired if the Commission would like to designate an Acting ZEO in the ZEO’s absence for enforcement issues only. This matter will be discussed further at the next regular meeting.

(d)

Planning & Regulations: The Regulations Committee met on April 16, 2008 and have come up with a new list of Regulations to be worked on with priorities. The Village District group is meeting again on April 30, 2008. There has been discussion on boundaries. They are currently looking at three village districts; residential, commercial, and transitional mixed use area.

10. Other Business: A note from Jonathan Kastner indicates that a tenant on an adjacent property to Dunkin’ Donuts at 190 Main Street is reporting early morning deliveries and trucks left running on the site. The ZEO had sent a letter on 3/12/08 regarding the complaints received regarding the delivery schedule. The Commission members agreed to authorize the ZEO to take the matter to the next level of enforcement. Tractor trailer trucks have been entering the property. Karen Lepeika, a tenant adjacent to the property, stated that it has been causing her sleep deprivation since the beginning of January. She indicated that they have been making deliveries between

2:00 and 3:00 a.m. with a 16 ft. truck. A tractor trailer truck making deliveries has been parking under her window, most recently as the past Saturday morning, at about 4:30 a.m. The tractor trailer truck deliveries have been occurring every weekend. Ms. Lepeika also noted that the back up beeper on the trucks and the idling are still continuing. The Commission approval stipulated the hours of deliveries and that there would be no tractor trailers on site. Ms. Lepeika submitted photographs of the tractor trailer on the property. The Commission suggested that she continue to document the time and type of trucks making the deliveries. Nancy Fischbach suggested that Ms. Lepeika also send correspondence to Dunkin Donuts directly.

11. Audience: None

12 (original item 7). Integrated Waste Solutions, Commercial Drive: Nancy Fischbach noted that representatives of Integrated Waste Solutions had attended last month’s meeting to discuss a proposed increase of the daily tonnage for their operation. No application for intensification of use would be considered by the Commission until the violations were addressed. Ms. Fischbach noted that the roll offs had been removed from the adjacent property. Paul SantaBarbara was now present for additional discussion to determine compliance. Ms. Fischbach noted that the business has been in operation for a number of months and the Commission requested information regarding the operation before additional tonnage may be considered. Due to the fact that the information is proprietary, Jonathan Kastner contacted Attorney Bill Howard, who indicated that in accordance with State Statutes, FOI does not require disclosure of trade secrets. Attorney Howard provided excerpts from C.G.S. § 1-210. Attorney Howard has indicated that the Commission may go into Executive Session to discuss proprietary information. Members noted that the general public is interested in the Planning and Zoning Commission April 17, 2008 Page 3

information; the Commission has an obligation to the applicant and to the public. Members discussed receiving the proprietary information in Executive Session. The condition of approval was that certain information would be provided periodically, with the intention on being provided in open forum. The public is affected by the traffic of the operation. If the Commission is not satisfied with what is presented in Executive Session, the Commission may ask Attorney Howard to review the information in detail and his opinion for releasing the information at a later time. The Commission informed Mr. SantaBarbara that there is a concern for not receiving information in public forum and he may choose not to share the information with the Commission even during Executive Session. Six members noted that there is a concern of the numbers not being able to be shared with the public. If the numbers are received in Executive Session, the Commission noted for the record with Mr. SantaBarbara that there is a possibility that the Commission may determine that it is not proprietary information after a determination by Commission Counsel. Paul SantaBarbara stated that he is willing to share the numbers with the Commission and noted the concern because there are competitors in the business. Commission members noted interest in the truck trips. Mr. SantaBarbara noted that there could be some dumpsters that will be 10-15 ton and there will be others with only a couple ton. The proposal may be to increase from 200 to 350 tons. He noted that there are days when there are demolitions and 20 trucks with 10 tons would reach the limit of 200 tons. Mr. SantaBarbara indicated that at a time when there is a demo it may require closing down the operation to regular customers. There are days where they may have 35 trucks over a course of 10-11 hours and there are days that there may be 15 trucks, but the 15 trucks may have the same capacity as the 35 trucks. Mr. SantaBarbara stated that he would not consider the amount of truck trips proprietary and would be comfortable if the Commission releases in the future the truck trip information. In the future, the truck trips would be presented in open session. The truck trips are determined by how many trucks are in the facility within the course of a day. The truck and tonnage information will be presented in Executive Session and Mr. SantaBarbara agreed that if in the future the Commission feels the need to release the truck trip information, it would be provided in open session. Commission members agreed that if the applicant applies to increase the tonnage from 200 to 350, the modification to the special permit would be considered significant and a public hearing would be held. A motion was made by Jane Samuels and seconded by Janet Edgerton to go into Executive Session at 8:45 p.m. inviting Paul SantaBarbara and the recording clerk to remain to discuss the proprietary data regarding the volume of business at Integrated Waste. Voted Unanimously. The Executive Session ended at 9:12 p.m.

The Commission returned to regular session at 9:12 p.m. after receiving the tonnage and truck numbers for the first quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2007. Paul SantaBarbara submitted a traffic study on the truck trips dated April 10, 2008. A few items addressed in Executive Session were reiterated for the open session. Mr. SantaBarbara stated that the report provides the date, the tonnage for the demo in for that day, and the total number of truck trips for each day throughout the month. The bottom of the monthly report is a tally of the total demo accepted and the total number of trucks entering the facility. Mr. SantaBarbara stated that the report is computer generated by a state certified scale registered with the State of Connecticut. When the trucks enter the facility, they are weighed on the scale, the information goes into the computer, and the report is sent to DEP on a quarterly basis. Janet Edgerton mentioned that if it is figured out by the average there may not need to be an increase. Some days there are less amount of tonnage. The numbers identified for each day are the trucks coming in with demolished material as well as trucks leaving with material, but does not include the empty trucks leaving or the empty truck entering to pick up the material. The number would be multiplied by two in order to determine to total number of trucks entering and exiting the site. Mr. SantaBarbara stated that the permit is based on round trip. The total truck column on the tonnage report represents round trips. Mr. SantaBarbara stated that Integrated Waste has a tractor trailer (128 cu. yds) that does between three and four loads a day to remove the material from the site. There are some subcontractors who use the facility as well. The Commission reviewed the traffic study. There may be as many as 49 trips per day with material. The original application predicted 50-60 trips in the Statement of Use. The Commission members determined that the applicant is in compliance with the existing permit. Ms. Fischbach suggested that Mr. SantaBarbara photocopy the reports for the Commission file eliminating the tonnage information, so that the truck trip information will be available in the file; including a notation that it is the information provided in Executive Session, excluding the tonnage information. After further discussion, Mr. SantaBarbara agreed to include tonnage information for a few days as an example of the different ranges, showing the high, low and average. The Commission recommended identifying dates where there are the same amount of trucks and different amounts of tonnage. Providing the proprietary information to the Commission for the record in the future is the decision of the applicant. The Commission may deal with averages Planning and Zoning Commission April 17, 2008 Page 4

in the future. The trucks entering the site with material and the trailer trucks exiting with the material belong to two different business entities. The next step is for the applicant to file an application for amendment to the special permit. All of the involved parties, including the property owner, would need to be identified on the application. The original statement of use and any approved modification should be included in any new application so that it is clear what is being proposed for a change. All the proprietary information provided to the Commission was returned to Mr. SantaBarbara. Mr. SantaBarbara will submit a version of the report showing the truck trips and some typical tonnage days.

Legal Matters: No executive session was held on litigation. A Freedom of Information complaint has been filed against the Commission by Ronald Prisley indicating that the recording of the meeting provided to him was blank. The information has been forwarded to Attorney Bill Howard. Jonathan Kastner has noted that the recording was provided to Mr. Prisley and he returned saying that it was blank. Mr. Prisley was listening to the CD on a CD player and not a computer. The CD prepared for Mr. Prisley had been verified that the CD contained the requested recording. The paperwork received includes the following: (a) a handwritten letter dated 1/24/08 from Mr. Prisley to the Freedom of Information as a complaint for failure to provide recording of meeting; (b) A letter dated April 10, 2008 from the Freedom of Information to the Planning & Zoning Commission that they received a complaint alleging a violation against the Commission; (c) Freedom of Information’s denial of complainant’s request for expedited hearing.
Other Business: The Commission will ask the ZEO to send an e-mail to the members on the status of the following: (a) if the revised plan for the liquor store has been received; and (b) if the workshop with ZBA has been scheduled.
A motion was made by Tom Griffin and seconded by Jane Samuels to adjourn at 9:42 p.m. Voted Unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy J. Howard Recording Secretary