DocketNumber: Nos. CV99-033 63 69 S, CV99-033 64 08 S
Citation Numbers: 2001 Conn. Super. Ct. 5919
Judges: HILLER, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 5/4/2001
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
Prior to the adoption of these amendments, all of the Plaintiffs, with the exception of Robert H. Hall (Hall), owned property within the APD. The Plaintiffs in Maguire v. Planning Zoning Commission, Docket No. CV99-0336408 (Maguire appeal) own property in non-residential zones within the APD and appeal from use prohibitions formerly permitted in the APD. The increase from one to two acres for single-family residences relates to Hall v. Planning Zoning Commission, Docket No. CV99-0336369 (Hall appeal) as it concerns property in a residential zone.
The Hall property consists of seventeen acres, approximately ten of which lie in the one acre [farming and residential] zone (R-1). Prior to the amendments, this property was entirely outside the APD, however, presently, it is entirely within the Level B mapping area which was added to the APD by the June 17, 1999 amendment. Level B mapping is an initial mapping of the aquifer protection area done in accordance with standards determined by the commissioner of environmental protection pursuant to provisions of the aquifer protection program mandated by General Statutes §§
The Maguire properties consist of two adjacent lots in the business zone (B-3) and a one acre adjacent lot in the professional zone (P-1). The lots are in the original APD, but outside the Level B mapping areas. The Maguires' business, a fire damage restoration company, is located on one of the B-3 lots, and the new regulations would restrict the maintenance and parking availability for its vehicles. On the second B-3 lot, the commission previously approved a site development plan for an office building. The underlying B-3 zone permits the Maguires to lease to professional persons, including doctors. The new regulations, however, prohibit use for medical offices.
The Edwards' property consists of a two acre lot in the underlying industrial M-2 zone, and is within the original APD. The commission previously approved a special exception for an office building, which lapsed due to passage of time. The new regulations would prohibit use of this property for medical offices.
The Curtis Corporation property is within the original APD and the Level B mapping area. It lies primarily in the industrial zone (M-4) CT Page 5921 established in 1958 and expanded in 1997 when the commission approved an application to change an additional eight acres from residential R-1 to industrial M-4. Approximately eighteen acres remain zoned as farming and residential. In the past, sand and gravel deposits on this parcel have been mined, most recently under permits granted to the adjacent sand and gravel operator in 1996 and continued in 1997. In 1999, prior to adoption of the regulations at issue, Curtis applied for a change of zone to industrial M-4 for another eight acres for an industrial subdivision and requested permission to excavate and remove approximately 115,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel. The application was denied in September, 1999, because of an objection to the removal of the sand and gravel. The current absolute prohibition against removal was not applicable to the previous application. Such removal is now specifically prohibited by the regulations appealed from. Without approval of this change of zone to industrial M-4, the eight acres are impacted by the newly adopted requirement of a minimum of two acres for a residential lot on the previously one acre residentially zoned property, and by the new parking prohibition.
The DD Newtown Partners, Ltd. Partnership property includes the Sand Hill Plaza Shopping Center. This property is approximately thirty-eight acres, of which less than twenty acres are required for the existing shopping center. It is located both in the original district and within the Level B mapping area. The underlying zone is industrial (M-6), the "Sand and Gravel Zone." The new regulations prohibit the mining or removal of sand and gravel, thereby preventing removal of the excess sand and gravel that would result from an expansion of the shopping center. Expansion is possible under the Newtown zoning regulations. In July, 1995, the commission approved an amendment with a special exception to allow a 21,450 square foot retail expansion. As part of that application, which has since lapsed, the commission approved the removal of 78,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel from the site. The new regulations also prohibit some uses of existing tenants of the plaza, i.e., a beauty salon, nail salon, photo store, and optometrist. The field of potential tenants is greatly restricted by the newly adopted regulations.
The Defendant commission gathered information and considered amendments to the APD regulations and the APD boundary map for several years before bringing them to public hearings. On February 4, 1999, February 25, 1999, March 25, 1999, and June 9, 1999, the commission held hearings concerning changes to the regulations and boundaries of the APD. At the June 9, 1999 hearing, the commission adopted the amendments to the regulations. On June 19, 1999, the commission adopted the APD boundary map, amended to include Level B mapping of the boundaries of the aquifer protection areas. Thereafter, the two appeals were taken from the CT Page 5922 decisions of the commission challenging some of the use prohibitions in the APD and the new boundary.1 The appeals were subsequently consolidated.
1. The Pootatuck Aquifer is a sole source aquifer that must be protected from contamination to ensure a present and future supply of safe and healthy drinking water. The adopted regulations will help to provide the necessary tools for this purpose.
2. The regulations provide reasonable standards for the aquifer protection district that will be considered in all land use decisions for the protection of existing and potential public drinking water supply.
The commission also found that the amendments were consistent with the Newtown Plan of Conservation and Development.
On June 17, 1999, the commission amended the zoning map to have the APD boundary amended to conform with the Level B aquifer protection area delineated on the Level B map previously approved.
The questions presented are whether the adoption of these regulations and restrictions was arbitrary and illegal, whether the record contained support for their adoption, and whether the specific prohibitions and the new APD boundary rationally relate to subjects which the commission is authorized to regulate, i.e., protection of the aquifer and drinking water.
The Plaintiffs do not dispute that aquifer protection, including this particular aquifer, is an appropriate concern and goal. Legal authority CT Page 5924 for aquifer protection regulations, in a zoning context, is found in General Statutes §
Aquifer protection issues, similar to wetlands issues are technical and beyond a laymen's knowledge. The department of environmental protection has adopted complex regulations regarding aquifer protection, and the legislature has required at least one member of the local aquifer protection agency or staff of the agency to be a person who has completed a course in technical training formulated by the commissioner. See, e.g., General Statutes §§
The Plaintiffs request the court to look at and give credence to only selected portions of the record which support their claims. However, on an appeal from a decision of the commission exercising its legislative powers, the question "is not whether the trial court would have reached the same conclusion, but whether the record before the agency supports the decision reached." Burnham v. Planning Zoning Commission, supra,
In addition to other supportive testimony and exhibits received at the public hearings, the commission received the following: a letter from the DEP to the commission advising that Level B mapping should be used for aquifer protection, at least until Level A mapping was completed (Return of Record [ROR], Item 42); a thorough informational presentation concerning the aquifer, its need for protection and the proposed regulations by the director of community development (ROR, Item 1, pp. 2-5, 37-38); information from the chairman of the Newtown conservation commission with an explanation of the derivation of the regulations and review of the expertise of those who did the work (ROR, Item 1, pp. 6,
The Plaintiffs in the Maguire appeal also raise this issue. All these Plaintiffs' arguments must fail, even if these uses were permitted before the amendments, because the evidence presented to the commission was sufficient to support the amendments adoption and to demonstrate their relationship to the protection of the aquifer and water supply. For example, at the public hearing, the conservation commission chairman testified that the presence of sand and gravel renovates water that drains into the aquifer and that the regulations had been devised and proposed by engineers, hydrologists and scientists. (ROR, Item 1, pp. 20, 29.) At the same hearing, the Plaintiffs' hydrologist testified that excavation below the water table would increase the potential for dangerous chemicals reaching the ground water. (ROR, Item 1, pp. 31-32.) He also indicated that more sand would assist in controlling greater spills of contaminants by heavy machinery. (ROR, Item 32.) The director of community development also testified and identified activities related to storage and maintenance of commercial vehicles or construction equipment as among the riskiest of land use categories, e.g., automotive service stations, machine shops, and radiator repair shops. (ROR, Item 38, Attachment B.) Also, a pharmacist with an engineering degree confirmed that the amount of sand and gravel over an aquifer is significant because it acts as a filter of surface water moving into the aquifer. (ROR, Item 5, pp. 66, 67, 70.)
The record contains a September 8, 1992 memorandum, previously referred to, from Elizabeth Stocker, director of community development to the planning and zoning commission. (ROR, Item 38.) This memorandum summarizes CT Page 5927 information concerning environmental and natural resource issues that were facing Newtown, including the need to develop an updated and comprehensive aquifer protection program for maintenance of a safe and viable water supply. This issue was designated a priority. Director Stocker, in this regard, stated that "[a]ctivities that pose the leastamount of risk and the highest recharge potential will be priorities forlocation within the aquifer." (Emphasis added.) (ROR, Item 38, p. 7.) Attached to this memorandum, as Attachment B, is a "Ranking of Land Use Categories by Their Risk to Groundwater Quality." In the category described as uses posing the "most risk" are "medical arts" and "beauty shops." This classification, a part of the record, was sufficient to cause the commission concern and to permit it to take steps to eliminate this risk. Accordingly, there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the regulation.
If, as is contended by the Plaintiffs and conceded by the commission, there may be certain types of medical offices which most likely would not affect or impact the aquifer or the safety of the drinking water, this would not, in and of itself, be sufficient ground to invalidate the present regulation. The record contains support for the prohibition as adopted. Consideration of a modification or refinement would more appropriately be addressed by an application to amend the language of the present restriction rather than the present appeal.
The Plaintiffs also argue that although "biomedical waste" or some other form of radioactive material in a medical office is something that might concern the commission, these substances are already regulated by existing state laws and, therefore, violations are for others to regulate. This argument is unavailing. The fact that there are other laws or regulations which address related issues and/or a risk to the water supply does not bar the commission from fulfilling its function of protecting the aquifer.
The court will note, however, that review by the conservation commission is appropriate in light of its designation as the town's agency to regulate under the aquifer protection program and its limited function to report and make recommendations to the planning and zoning commission regarding applications for special exceptions. The planning and zoning commission is entitled to the assistance and comments from other municipal agencies and officials. See Frito-Lay, Inc. v. Planning Zoning Commission,
Hiller, J.
Burnham v. Planning & Zoning Commission , 189 Conn. 261 ( 1983 )
Feinson v. Conservation Commission , 180 Conn. 421 ( 1980 )
Holt-Lock, Inc. v. Zoning & Planning Commission , 161 Conn. 182 ( 1971 )
Calandro v. Zoning Commission , 176 Conn. 439 ( 1979 )
Hawkes v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission , 156 Conn. 207 ( 1968 )