TOWN OF WILLINGTON
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
MINUTES OF DECEMBER 17, 2002 MEETING
A. Call to Order
St. Louis called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. at the Town Office Building, 40 Old Farms Road, Willington, CT.
B. & C. Roll Call/Seat Alternates
Members Present: A. St. Louis, Chairman
R. Tulis, Vice-Chairman
S. Trueb, Secretary
M. Ellis (alt.)
N. Gray
P. Nevers
T. Radell
Members Absent: W. Goodale (alt.)
D. Lytwyn
D. Palumbo (alt.)
Also Present: G. Jones, Assistant Planning-Zoning Agent
S. Nimerowski, Recording Clerk
St. Louis seated Ellis for Lytwyn.
D. New Business
1. Informational meeting/discussion concerning changes and options for expansion at
Wilderness Lake (aka Rainbow Acres) located on Village Hill Road. (Map 43,
Lot 124, 99.5 acres). Owner: Raymond Crossen.
Hank Torcellini, Engineer, said the campground was not open for the last year and Mr. Crossen would like to reopen it with improvements. Mr. Crossen said the survey indicates there are150 acres total. Mr. Torcellini said that the dividing line between Designed Recreational and Residential is now known. Mr. Crossen said plans are to change the campground to a resort and use the hall for function rental, upgrading the entire facility. Mr. Torcellini presented a map dated 1987. He said that presently there are recreation hall showers and bathrooms, an area for campsites, an area for RVs with water and electrical hookups, an area for wilderness camping, and dumping station sites. Mr. Crossen said he would like to reactivate one area. He would also like to add bathrooms to the
recreation hall. He said the soil has been tested and is acceptable. He said he would like to get 50 camping sites up and running. He said he also would like to build a couple of staff houses along the entry road as well as a maintenance building (a caretaker-type facility). Mr. Crossen said he would like to develop some land for activities such as cross-country skiing. He described extensive recreation hall renovations that have already been done. Mr. Torcellini indicated that they will register the dam with the DEP. Mr. Crossen said the DEP wants top soil deposited on the top of the dam, and for the current roadway to be discontinued. He said they have cut the brush back and will seed it in the spring. He said the slope is steep, 2:1; we are presently looking at mowing equipment. He said that since the dam in an earth-berm dam, the DEP also wants a toe drain built from the auxiliary spillway area across.
St. Louis asked if there would be rental lots, and Mr. Crossen replied that there would be. St. Louis stated that our regulations for occupation are May to October, to which Mr. Crossen replied that they would follow the regulations, although he indicated that some campgrounds are now open 12 months out of the year. He said that in 2003 they could tap into the transients-with-motor-homes market. He said that cross-country skiing is planned for the winter, with walking and jogging trails the rest of the year.
Trueb asked if Mr. Crossen’s goal would be to gradually expand, and Mr. Crossen indicated that would be the plan. He said that a full-time caretaker is needed in order to procure insurance coverage. He said that they would like to pave the road from Village Hill up to the recreation hall.
Tulis noted that there may be a problem meeting the 200 ft. setback regulations. He read the regulations that stated no campground is allowed within 200 ft. of the property line. Assistant Agent Jones noted that a piece of property zoned DR has been taken from the campground and added to R80 property; regulations are more restrictive for residential property and would have to be followed. Discussion followed concerning zoning regulations.
Tulis said the line where the designed recreational zone starts would have to be clarified. Assistant Agent Jones said he had several concerns. He said when Joe Halchek sold the land to Mr. Crossen, he kept a piece for himself, and 20 contiguous acres are required for a campground. He said Mr. Crossen would probably have to have a lot of meetings with the Land Use Department about a number of issues.
Discussion ensued about what could be put in the 200 ft. buffer.
Mr. Crossen said he would like to see Willington regulations about the size of RVs become more liberal. He said that state regulations now have no limit on length. He said the 200 ft. development rights may be able to be leased.
E. Old Business
1. File #2002-41 – Application for a (2) lot subdivision off Kechkes Road (Map 27, Lots
13A, 6, 13-2; 53.2 acres). Owner/Applicant: George & Irene Hasapes. (Received
9/17/02, Public Hearing on 10/15/02, Continue to 11/19/02, Decision by 1/21/03.)
St. Louis indicated that all Commission members are now up-to-date with this application and that draft waivers are in the members’ packets. Tulis said that in order to be granted, each waiver has to meet certain criteria; A-E have to be satisfied.
MOTION: To grant waiver for Chapter IV, Section 2, Scale.
By: Tulis Seconded: Nevers
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
Concerning soil types, Tulis said that a Certified Soil Scientist did not provide the information submitted for this application. Gray noted that the applicant provided three different versions of what wetlands were on the site.
MOTION: To deny waiver for Section 2, m), soil types and contours.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Nevers
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
MOTION: To grant waiver for Section 2, n), passive energy techniques.
By: Tulis Seconded: Radell
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
MOTION: To deny waiver for Section 2, r), primary and reserve septic fields to be
shown, and test hole and percolation information.
By: Nevers Seconded: Tulis
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
St. Louis noted that the applicant was asked to show the primary and reserve septic fields but he did not.
Assistant Agent Jones said that one aspect of the regulations, a report from the Health Department, had been satisfied with a letter from Janet McAllister. He said that Mr. Dilaj, in his letter dated October 8, 2002, did not ask for waivers for the following information required by the regulations but rather stated that they were not applicable: Plan and profile, approval from Army Corps, Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, Estimate to be submitted. Tulis said that waivers could have been submitted for this information, but were not.
St. Louis said that N. Gray had pointed out that according to Section 9, existing non-conformity would be increased. He said that Section 4.02.01 restates this information. Assistant Agent Jones commented that there are only 19 contiguous acres in the campground.
MOTION: To deny application for File #2002-41 without prejudice for the
following reasons: application as submitted is incomplete and does
not meet the subdivision or zoning regulations of the Town of
Willington; specifically, the application does not meet Sections 4,
9, and 11 of the Zoning regulations.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Nevers
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
Tulis noted the following could have been taken care of by very simple waivers:
Volume of cuts and fills, Location of deposition of excavated materials, Schedule of construction, street numbers shown, Index map, All land of applicant, Phases delineated, Soil types per USGS, Wetland soils, Flood zones, Existing and proposed contours, Signage, Highway right-of-way, Footing and curtain drains, Septic systems.
Jones said many items were lacking in the application.
F. Minutes
S. Nimerowski, Recording Clerk, asked for the following change in the December 3, 2002 minutes: on page 1, P. Nevers should be added to “Members Present.”
MOTION: To approve December 3, 2002 minutes as amended.
By: St. Louis Seconded: M. Ellis
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
G. Correspondence
None.
H. & I. Discussion and Staff Report
Jones indicated that Jeffrey Passardi is requesting another 90-day extension for filing subdivision plans. Mr. Passardi is trying to obtain a piece of land from the state. Jones said the state statutes allow 2, 90-day extensions.
MOTION: To grant another 90-day extension for Jeffrey Passardi.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Radell
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
J. Adjournment
MOTION: To adjourn at 9:15 p.m.
By: St. Louis Seconded: Ellis
Result: Motion passes unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan S. Nimerowski
Recording Clerk
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