Groton Open Space Association

Public Hearing On Wal-Mart In Watershed Area Cancelled

By Joan Smith, GOSA director

GROTON — The Planning Commission received two separate applications September 26, 2006, for a Super Wal-Mart store, to be located at 529, 553 and 571 Gold Star Highway and Antonino Road, a short distance east of the existing Wal-Mart, and within the Watershed Protection District of the Groton Utilities terminal reservoir system.

An application for resubdivision into five lots was withdrawn Nov. 8. Groton Town Planning Director Michael J. Murphy said that a resubdivision is not necessary to provide for the future addition of restaurants to the commercial site. The public hearing for resubdivision, which had been scheduled for November 14, was subsequently cancelled.

A different application, for a site plan approval, will go forward. Town of Groton zoning regulations, Section 8.4-1, are silent on the subject of a public hearing for a site plan review. Further, the regulations allow automatic approval, if no action is taken by the Planning Commission within the statutory limit of 65 days of receipt (barring extensions granted by the applicant). No date was set for a site plan review. GOSA would expect November 28 to be the last scheduled opportunity for the Commission to consider the plan.

[UPDATE: According to an article in The Day Nov. 21, Mr. Murphy said that though there’s no requirement for a public hearing, members of the public will be allowed to comment when the commission examines the site plan. Mr. Murphy said that because of an expected request by the developer for an extension, the commission most likely will begin considering the application Jan. 9, 2007. He said that the town has notified the Department of Public Health of the application, even though the applicant wasn’t required to do that as of Sept. 26, prior to the Oct. 1 effective date of a new law embodying the requirement, the Day article by Katie Warchut said.]

The September 26 receipt of the application misses, by four days, the new Connecticut State Statute Section 8-3i, effective Oct. 1, 2006, that would have required the applicant to submit copies to the state Department of Public Health and to Groton Utilities within seven days. GOSA Director Joan Smith read relevant excerpts of Section 8-3i to the Planning Commission at the Nov. 14 meeting, and asked, nevertheless, that the commission seek expert opinion at the Department of Public Health and Groton Utilities in order to make an informed decision.

The Town of Groton Inland Wetlands Agency granted Wal-Mart a permit April 26, 2006, with language concerning a three-year bond to ensure compliance with the stormwater monitoring program.

Both the existing and proposed Wal-Mart retail stores lie within the Groton Watershed Protection District. The new project is sited within 500 feet of Hempsted Brook, which feeds directly into the Groton Utilities terminal reservoir system. By overland flow and stream from the southeast corner of the parcel, it is also within 1,000 feet of Poquonnock Reservoir and within 600 feet of wetlands surrounding the reservoir, according to Karl F. Acimovic, P.E., in a March 24, 2006, memo written in connection with the IWA hearings on the project.

The main building alone will encompass about 4.2 acres. Parking will take up about 5 more acres. In addition, the development will require accessory driveways, road widening and intersection improvements, all adding impervious area to the watershed.

Mr. Acimovic worried in the memo that “long term maintenance issues, which if not implemented and followed through, will cause a steady and continued degradation of standard drinking water parameters for source waters. Groton Utilities has already seen a steady decline in water quality from this westerly section of the watershed (due to continued commercial and housing buildup) which, unlike northerly areas, comes directly into the terminal reservoir system without any significant detention or renovation of pollutants.” (Italics added.)

The file is available for review at the Groton Town Hall Annex on Groton Long Point Road.