Groton Open Space Association

Inland Wetlands Agency Approves Subdivision In Key Watershed

GROTON–The Town of Groton Inland Wetlands Agency approved June 23, 2004, a single-family housing development, served by individual septic sewers, in a watershed that drains into the Groton Utilities drinking water reservoir system.

The panel’s vote was 4 members in favor, with 1 abstention. Voting for the development were Chairman David Scott, members Eunice Sutphen and Barbara Block and alternate member Robert Ashworth. Alternate member Mary Ellen Furlong abstained.

Before approving the project, the agency raised the minimum distance of house lots from nearby wetlands to 150 feet from the proposed 50 feet. The increased margin may reduce slightly the number of houses in the proposed subdivision from the planned 63.

The site of the proposed development is in the watershed of Great Brook, an integral aqueduct of the Groton Utilities drinking water reservoir system, which is scheduled for a major expansion to municipalities currently served by other sources. The brook is the “main highway” by which water flows from the Morgan Pond and Ledyard reservoirs in the north to the Buddington Pond and the Poquonnock reservoirs in the south. Attorney Timothy Bates, representing the would-be developer, Downes-Patterson Corp., said in a letter to the City of Groton that “the Great Brook Subdivision is a model of the type of residential development which can occur in the vicinity of a water supply and protect water quality and future generations of water users,” according to a report in The Day newspaper. The City of Groton owns Groton Utilities, though GU’s main distribution center is located in the Town of Groton.

The Great Brook housing project, strenuously opposed by GOSA, still requires approval of the Planning Commission.