Due to improper noticing, an application by the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) to change the regulations that govern contractor storage yards has been withdrawn. However, the commission is expected to resubmit the application, which may lead to litigation against the town.

A the Aug. 3 virtual PZC public hearing, proposed changes to the regulations that cover contractor storage yards was discussed. During the hearing it was pointed out that the legal notice of the meeting incorrectly listed the zoning regulations that were being debated. The noticed meeting listed the proposed amendments as being for section 10.52, when in fact it should have been section 12.

Due to fears that the incorrect notice could lead to the amendments being overturned, the commission unanimously voted to withdraw the proposal. The regulations subcommittee of the PZC will once again discuss the amendments and the PZC will re-introduce the amendments in the future with correct legal notice.

Once the proposed amendments are resubmitted there will be another public hearing scheduled.

However, those opposed to the amendments to the regulations warned that they are prepared to once again sue the PZC if it passes the amendments as presented.

The Issue

Concern over contractor storage yards is a topic with a long history in Clinton. The issue began in 2016 when a petition to amend the I-2 zoning district in regulations was brought by Kim Neri Simoncini, whose father Carl Neri, was then a PZC member. Simoncini was the owner of Hammonasset Construction while Neri was the president and owner of Neri Construction. Neri recused himself from that application, which was denied, but was followed soon after by a similar, PZC-initiated application written by the town’s planning consultant.

The proposed amendments to the zoning regulations relaxed some of the requirements on setbacks and fencing for contractors’ businesses and storage yards and allowed for expanded hours of operation.

The regulations were controversial to members of the community who felt that some storage yards were kept in bad shape and already did not comply with agreed upon standards. The opposition argued that the amendments were a way for contractors to skirt regulations with which they weren’t complying, which in turn hurt property values for abutting properties.

The issue came to a head at a contentious public hearing held in August 2016. At the hearing, Neri recused himself from the discussion on the PZC’s proposed amendment, but he remained seated at the table with the PZC members and actively participated in the discussion of the issue.

During the hearing, Neri regularly interrupted and shouted at members of the public who spoke against the proposal and his failure to properly recuse. Simoncini also shouted at a member of the public while that person was trying to speak. Video of the hearing is available on YouTube.

In September 2016, the PZC voted along party lines to pass the amendments with five Republicans voting in favor and four Democrats voting against it.

However, the Clinton Taxpayers Association (CTA) sued the PZC over Neri’s failure to properly recuse himself during the public hearing at which the amendments were discussed. In spring 2019, a judge in Middleton Superior Court ended three years of litigation when he ruled in favor of the CTA due to Neri’s failure to recuse and his actions at the hearing.

In his ruling, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Matthew Frechette wrote “it is important to highlight the fact that Chairman [Gary] Bousquet recused himself from the proceedings merely because he sells fences for a living. While Bousquet’s potential bias is not at issue in this matter, it serves as an illustration of the even greater conflict that Neri had, both financial and familial, when he ignored the demands of the public to recuse himself, but instead actively participated and attended the Aug. 29, 2016 public hearing as well as the Sept. 12, 2016 deliberations.”

The judge’s ruling negated the amendments passed by the PZC in 2016.

The Issue Reignited

The regulations subcommittee of the PZC has held discussions in 2019 and 2020 on what to do with the contractor storage yard issue. The committee decided at a meeting held in July 2020 to resubmit the proposed changes from 2016. The reasoning was that the judge overturned the amendments based on the recusal issue, not the actual language of the amendment.

That decision did not sit well with some members of the public. At the virtual hearing on Aug. 3, three members of the public spoke, all against the proposition.

Speaking for the CTA and the plaintiffs in the 2016 lawsuit, Pam Fritz pointed out that the judge’s decision invalidated the proposed amendments that the PZC passed in 2016, however the incorrect amendments were still listed on the town’s website.

“Fourteen months have passed and the contractors storage yard regulations that have been declared void by the judge’s order are still published as if they are current Clinton zoning regulations. We consider this a contempt of court action by the PZC,” said Fritz.

The town’s consultant planner John Guszkowski confirmed to the Harbor News on Aug. 5 the incorrect language was still posted on the website, and explained how that happened.

“Yes, it appears upon closer inspection that the current Section 12.52 up on the town’s website is not the correct and legal version of that regulation. Following the judge’s ruling last year, we did replace the version that was passed and appealed with what we believed to be the correct, pre-lawsuit version. Unfortunately, the file system of regulations that we inherited from the prior land use clerk was very complicated with confusing file names that we inadvertently put up some sort of hybrid version of the regulation.

“We will track down and put the correct (pre-lawsuit) regulation by the end of the week. The good news is that the town hasn’t had any applications for a contractor’s storage yard in the past year, so we haven’t attempted to enforce any incorrect regulations of this nature,” said Guszkowski.

During her time speaking, Fritz further outlined her issue with relaxing the regulations.

“Many contractors storage yards in Clinton offer little or no protection to the abutting neighborhoods. Outside storage has turned them into unregulated junkyards. Abandoned cranes and inoperable construction equipment and trucks, stockpiles of old materials, and more litter their landscape. It sits there for years, with no inspections or permits required. We have pictures to prove it. It is a disgrace to our town,” Fritz continued.

Fritz said that in her view, the judge offered a clear ruling that the amendments themselves were a problem beyond Neri’s failure to recuse, and that the regulations that cover aspects like manufacturing or warehousing offers more stringent and thought-out conditions than the one’s for contractor storage yards.

“This defiance of Judge Frechette’s order would only exacerbate the issue for P&Z. Your regulation as written will financially benefit all current contractor’s storage yards, including those owned by the Neri Corporation, to the detriment of residential districts and abutting residential neighborhoods,” said Fritz.

Fritz warned that the CTA could again pursue litigation against the PZC over the amendments. Fritz has mentioned in the past that the CTA attempted to settle the case more than once, but the PZC refused to do. The town spent close to $12,000 on legal fees fighting the case from 2016 to 2019.

“For the PZC to spend more of the Clinton taxpayer’s money on legal fees for a case they have already lost in court is unconscionable,” said Fritz.

Kirk Carr was a member of the public that was against the 2016 proposal, and was also the person who videotaped the dramatic 2016 public hearing and vote. Though he is no longer a resident of Clinton, he did attend and speak during the Aug. 3 hearing in opposition to the amendments.

Carr alleged that the move to pass the amendments in 2016 was done for political gain and that those who voted for the amendment may have been intimidated to doing so.

“Please remember that both Simoncini and her father, Carl Neri, were extremely influential members of the RTC [Republican Town Committee] search committee that recommends to the RTC who will be endorsed for elected and appointed positions. Had any of the five Republicans who voted for this amendment done otherwise, they would assuredly been blackballed from ever receiving a Republican endorsement for any public position in Clinton,” said Carr.

Carr also spoke of the incorrect regulation that was posted on the website even though the judge’s ruling overturned that regulation, and noted that every time the commission had proposed changes to the contractor storage yard regulations, there was a vocal contingent of the public against the changes.

“The PZC should deny this amendment once and for all at your next regular meeting. Blatant, brutal, partisan intimidation should never be rewarded by locally elected commissioners. Your neighbors depend on you not to let the many and the vulnerable be victimized by the few and the powerful. That is what those commissioners arguing in favor of this amendment now stand for and what I trust enough of you to defeat this amendment will stand against,” Carr said.

Adam Moore, Eddie Alberino, and Mike Knudsen were Republican PZC members when the original contractor storage yard vote took place in 2016 and are still on the commission. Moore and Alberino vehemently denied Carr’s allegations of being pushed to vote for the amendments by members of the RTC. Knudsen could not be reached for comments.

“The allegation that the Republicans who voted in favor of the contractor storage yard regulation change in 2016 did so out of a fear that they would be punished by the RTC for not voting ‘Yes’ is completely baseless and untrue. Members of the Republican town party, as with any other party or group, are typically like-minded and therefore it should be no surprise if we all voted the same way on an issue,” said Moore.

“It’s completely ridiculous,” said Alberino, who also said that he can be seen on video rebuking Neri for his actions at the 2016 public hearing.

What’s Next?

After the public spoke, the commission members also weighed in.

Moore said, “To me, I voted for this, I would vote for it again. My sense is the people that didn’t like it the first time won’t like it this time and I don’t want to give them any ammunition.”

Moore suggested the regulations committee clean up the language of the amendments and then resubmit the properly noticed amendments again.

Commissioner member Alan Kravitz voted against the amendments in 2016 and said he still has reservations about the proposed amendments.

“I thought that what was presented failed to adequately address the same questions that led me to vote against the version overthrown by the court: adequate physical separation of contractor yards and residential units, and visual separation of outdoor storage and residential. The problem extends to existing facilities and requires more than a change in regulations. I would like to see a permit process much like that utilized for special exceptions involving extractive operations. Outside storage is subject to rapid changes in quantity and items making it difficult to regulate,” said Kravitz.

The PZC regulation subcommittee has yet to schedule its meeting for August.