ESSEX - The Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Commission (IWWC) has unanimously approved an application from River Sound Development, LLC, for development of an open-space subdivision at the end of Ingham Hill Road. The approval comes with a series of conditions, including the elimination of one of the lots.

The next step for the developer is action by the Planning Commission, which has already opened its own public hearing on the application. That public hearing will continue at the Planning Commission's Thursday, Sept. 13 meeting.

The IWWC opened its public hearing on the original application in April, continuing the hearing in May and then again in July. The original application called for a six-lot, open-space subdivision at the end of Ingham Hill Road on 36.6 acres owned by River Sound Development. The subdivision would include just over 20 acres of open space, including 4.22 acres of wetlands with 1.2 acres of vernal pools. As the developer's engineers have met with the Conservation Commission, IWWC, and Planning Commission during site walks and at formal commission meetings, parts of the original proposal have been revised.

Throughout the public hearings, before both the IWWC and the Planning Commission, River Sound Development and the neighbors who oppose the project as proposed have presented their own soil and wetlands scientists and biologists discussing the presence-or likely presence-of a variety of state-listed animal and plant species on the property, particularly within the wetlands areas and the vernal pool.

While the state's Natural Diversity Data Base lists the possibility of red bats, the Eastern ribbon snake, and the Eastern box turtle on the property, the developer's expert questions the presence of these species and contends that the proposed subdivision plan complies with and "exceeds" the protections requested by the state data base. He adds, "The presence of box turtles on the subject parcel is very unlikely." Others disagree.

There has also been considerable discussion of wetlands protection and of storm water run-off from the proposed development. A group of Ingham Hill neighbors has hired an attorney to oppose the development as proposed and the group has gained standing as an "intervener" before the local commissions. In July the group presented the IWWC with a packet of information formally opposing "approval of regulated activities" associated with the six-lot development. Their attorney requested that the commission scale back the proposal and deny approval of lots 2 and 3 within the plan.

The Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) is also an intervener. CFE was represented by Attorney Charles Rothenberger, who told the IWWC of the "likely adverse impacts" of the River Sound proposal to the wetlands and watercourses on the property. He asked that the commission deny the application. As an alternative, he suggested any approval should include the elimination of lots 2 and 3 from the plan.

The Conditions

The wetlands commission granted a permit unanimously with the conditions listed below.

The much-discussed Lot 2, which lies close to a wetlands area, would be eliminated. In its minutes of the Aug. 14 meeting, the commission says the lot should be eliminated "based on the significant value of the adjacent" wetlands and "the expected use of a resident wood frog population" to use the lot as a habitat.

The commission said, "Since this species is known to promote the health and function of wetlands, the elimination of development in this area will meet this criteria. This condition will ensure the protection of a highly valuable wetland" that works with the vernal pool and a second wetlands area on the property. "This provides for continuation of the important habitat interaction which exists now."

On another of the proposed building lots, Lot 3, the commission makes note of the "connectivity corridor" that crosses the planned paved driveway "which acts as a barrier to some species," in particular the Eastern box turtle, because of high asphalt temperatures. The commission's condition is that the driveway, within the limits of the corridor, be constructed from "grasscrete" or paving blocks with grassed joints, or other similar construction "in order to provide a more natural crossing."

Also on Lot 3, the commission says construction will be in the spring, based on recommendations from the Department of Energy and Environment & Protection (DEEP). If construction takes place in the summer or fall, DEEP's recommendations concerning protection of the Eastern box turtle must be followed.

The commission also requires that a parking lot proposed at the area's trailhead be constructed of porous blocks "to reduce runoff and be more natural." The IWWC adds, "If acceptable to the Conservation Commission, this parking area could be eliminated. And taking up a recommendation from the Conservation Commission, the use of pesticides and herbicides are restricted.

The proposal will require considerable earth moving, regrading, soil removal, and soil replacement as well as considerable discussion of water run-off. The commission required that the soil media and construction methods for the bioretention systems conform to the recommendations of the commission's own engineering consultants.