Branford Land Trust Analysis Prompts Revised Costco Plan

Costco has revised and resubmitted a voluminous set of plans after agreeing that the Branford Land Trust’s (BLT) engineering consultant had provided important information their own engineers had missed.

The latest set of Costco plans were delivered in boxes to the Inland Wetlands office at Town Hall late Wednesday. Costco wants to build a 150,000-square-foot warehouse at Exit 56, off I‑95. The next Costco public hearing before the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) is scheduled for March 10. 

In an eight-page letter reviewing the latest changes, Michelle Carlson, the Costco senior project manager, told the IWC that discussions with LandTech, an engineering firm in Westport that represents the land trust, ​“produced better plans…”

Carlson’s letter says the latest revisions filed with the IWC ​“do not change the essential characteristics of the proposed regulated activities and therefore do not amount to a new application.” 

She says in her letter to Daniel Shapiro, the chair of IWC and the other commissioners, that ​“throughout this process we have been mindful of the comments already made by Milone & MacBroom, Inc,” the IWC’s outside engineering review consultants. ​“Where appropriate, we note in this letter how responses to the LandTech issues overlap with the issues raised by MMI.” The IWC hired MMI to compile an outside review of Costco’s plans. As is customary, the fees for reviews are paid by the applicant, which in this case is Costco. 
 

The BLT owns 22 properties that are downstream from the proposed development site, including the 104-acre Van Wie Woods and Van Wie Pond. The BLT is concerned that the Van Wei Pond property will be directly affected by water run-off from the Exit 56 site. 

The BLT is one of two intervenors in the Costco plan, which means the organization has legal standing at the public hearings. The BLT is focusing on how the huge project will affect water quality on the downstream open spaces and watercourses.

The Branford Citizens for Responsible Development (BCRD), the other intervenor, is concerned about a wider scope of issues. It has asked the IWC to reject the development or require the project be scaled back considerably to meet Wetlands regulations. It believes the regulations have not been met.

Reached this morning about the latest set of Costco plans, Keith Ainsworth, the attorney who represents the BCRD, told the Eagle he is not swayed. ​“We are reviewing the material and we remain unimpressed. They have a fanciful notion of how hydro-geology works.” He said at some point the BCRD will address the issue.

Speaking on behalf of BLT President Amos Barnes, Bill Horne said today that ​“the BLT and LandTech will be evaluating the new material to make sure that the changes and the proposed management plans will provide the level of protection of the downstream wetlands that the land trust is looking for.”

The BLT and the BCRD met with radically different reactions from Costco’s team at the last public hearing earlier this month. Costco’s attorney, Thomas P. Cody praised the land trust for working with Costco. BCRD has not taken the same approach and Cody strongly disputed a report by the consultant for BCRD who said the project must be scaled back.

Carlson alluded to BCRD’s approach in describing how well Costco works with others. ​“This iterative and collaborative process has allowed us to address all of LandTech’s comments efficiently and effectively. The results of this two-way process are demonstrated in the materials being submitted today.” The implication is that the BCRD has not been as cooperative.

At issue before the IWC is whether the 44-acre commercial development proposed for Exit 56 will have an adverse impact on wetlands and on downstream properties and waterways. The development envisions a Costco and seven other commercial buildings at Exit 56. A liquor store and large gas station are part of the proposal.

Janet Riesman, who owns property adjacent to the Costco site, said at the last public hearing that Costco’s plan is to have a 16-pump gas station was excessive and asked the IWC to reject it. She said there are already 48 fuel pumps within a quarter-mile of the proposed Costco site, bringing the ​“grand total in the area” to 64 pumps.

The Land Trust has previously stated that it neither opposes nor supports the Costco complex, but that its objective is ​“to protect the properties entrusted to us by the property donors and the thousands of people in Branford who have supported the Land Trust for almost 50 years.”
The Land Trust is also concerned about a pond on Gould Lane, and the flood plain near the Route 139 Bridge.

Digging Deeper Finds Fractured Rock

In the eight-page letter, Carlson wrote that Costco’s engineering firm, Terracon, conducted ​“extensive in situ permeability investigations on the properties involved.” LandTech suggested Terracon dig deeper. In recent weeks Terracon did just that. 

Carlson said that the latest Terracon investigation found ​“fractured rock at the approximate depth and location of the bottom of several of the proposed stormwater management basins. This discovery was not expected, given the overall topography of the site, and the fact that no exposed rock was evident on the cut slop north of East Industrial Road or in the swale of Wetland 1. In any event, Terracon tested the infiltration rates of this highly weathered bedrock and determined that it has greater infiltration rates than the nearby till soils.

“Since the bottom of several of the stormwater management basins will have direct contact with this layer of weathered bedrock, Terracon determined that it is appropriate to apply the infiltration rate of the weathered bedrock in the stormwater management analysis.”

In the end, Carlson said her view was that ​“applying these new data, and still using a conservative approach, the post-construction volume of stormwater leaving the Costco Property and the Trustee Property will be less than the pre-development stormwater volume leaving these properties.” The BLT will analyze her conclusions as will the BCRD. 

At the last Costco hearing, Michael J. Bartos, an engineer and partner in LandTech, spoke about inspection and maintenance of the stormwater treatment systems. He said it was essential. LandTech also wanted oversight and enforcement language for Costco’s operations and maintenance practice at the site.

In her letter to the IWC, Carlson said that Costco in collaboration with LandTech had also prepared a Stormwater Management System Operations and Maintenance guide for the Costco applications.One of the concerns voiced by the land trust and LandTech was the need for a plan to oversee and enforce Costco operations and maintenance practices.

The Land Trust’s consulting team met with the Costco team at a private meeting the week before the February public hearing, the BLT attorney Timothy Yolen said at the hearing.

“As a result of this meeting and further discussions between our experts … the applicant has agreed to make many substantial modifications, addressing the Land Trust’s overwhelming concern about the quality of water, which leaves the site of the project,” Yolen said.

However, no agreement has yet been reached.

Yolen has explained that the Land Trust’s primary concern is the quality of water flowing off the Costco complex and onto the open space properties and watercourses. ​“It is our goal to make sure that these conserved wetlands are not adversely impacted by the applicants’ activities,” he said.

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