The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) voted to approve the proposed Indian River Landing development at the Old Morgan School. With that hurdle cleared at a regular meeting on Feb. 4, the developers will now need approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) next month before breaking ground on the long-awaited, mixed-use redevelopment.

The IWC voted to approve the approve the project by a vote of six in favor (James Norrie, Edward Alberino, Mary Jo Phelps, Bertram Schmitz, and Tania Abbatello) to one opposed (Robert LaFrance). LaFrance stated he opposed the application on Feb. 4 because he wanted more time to digest the information that the applicants had provided that evening.

Part of the IWC approval included a special condition that a maintenance schedule for the stormwater system be set up by the developers and that it be subject to enforcement by the town’s wetlands enforcement officer.

With the IWC approval granted, the next step is for the project to get approval from the PZC, which has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal to open on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.

The application from the developer, Greylock Property Group, seeks to turn the former high school property into a mixed-used development consisting of retail, a large grocery store, restaurants, and a hotel. The 37-acre development would also include walking trails and a park area.

The IWC can only rule on the merits of an application based on the potential impacts from construction on any of the wetlands on the property. Approval by the IWC is required as part of the PZC approval process, and thus was needed before the PZC public hearing opens next month.

Bill Sweeney, a land use attorney for Greylock, said that Indian River Landing would be “an environmentally responsive project.”

“All improvements we are proposing are outside the wetlands and we are proposing no activity inside the wetlands,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney also noted that the Indian River Landing proposal was less intensive than the Mill Pond LLC proposal, a similar project for the same site, which the IWC had approved before that project ultimately collapsed in 2017.

The IWC spent nearly four hours questioning the applicant’s representatives about their plans for the site, mainly focused on the plans to deal with any stormwater runoff or discharge on the property. Sweeney said that “99 percent” of water that runs off the property will receive at least some kind of treatment.

When the commission opened up the meeting to public comment after 10:30 p.m., there were only two members of the public remaining who wished to speak on the application. Shawn Szirbik said he was in favor of the application but asked that the developers work to make sure they keep the waterways on the property clean and to make sure that there is security against people sneaking down to a Colonial-era dam on the property.

Sweeney said that the property would have a professional management company to control against such concerns and that none of the walking trails would lead to the dam.

Phil Sengle stated he was in favor of the application and praised the work the developers did with their project design. Sengle was a member of the Board of Selectmen when the board voted to approve the project when it was first proposed in 2018.

“We had four proposals and I say to this day I think everyone still believes this one is the best choice for Clinton,” Sengle said.

While the IWC can only hear and consider testimony on environmental issues with an application, the PZC can consider a much wider ranger of topics related to an application—for example, the proposed uses on the property, concerns about traffic, designs, and open space requirements can all be considered by that commission.

With IWC permission now granted, the project is close to leaving the proposal status and becoming a reality. The application for the project estimated a start date of May 2020 and a completion date of October 2022. Though no specific tenants have yet been named, drawings available in the town’s land use office show that the plan calls for nine buildings to be built on the 37-acre property. The plans depict four restaurant spaces, five retail spaces, a 55,150-square-foot grocer, and a 14,021-square-foot hotel with 100 rooms.