Land Trust Files Lawsuit Against Developer

BRANFORD, CT — The Branford Land Trust filed a lawsuit in New Haven Superior Court this week against a North Haven developer constructing a housing development off of Gould Lane in Branford.

The land trust is suing DonMar Development Corporation and its president Mario Digioia, seeking an injunction to stop erosion that is causing water “the color of chocolate milk due to the vast amount of sediments and soil to wash out into the BLT’s wetlands on the neighboring parcel,” land trust president Peter Raymond said in a news release.

“We have been trying to get them to control the site for over a year, but they have not stopped the erosion, which has occurred with every rain storm, and now we have a polluted wetland. Regrettably, we had no choice but to seek help from the courts,” Raymond said.

DonMar’s site has been a hot topic of discussion at Town inland wetlands meetings for a year, with promises of compliance being made and broken repeatedly. More recently, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection has stepped in to try to get the site back into control.

“DonMar’s response seems to be that they will seek forgiveness once they have built all of their units rather than stop dumping sediments into the wetlands. That’s not how wetlands protection works,” Keith Ainsworth, the New Haven attorney representing the Trust in the court action, said.

After a Patch email asking for comment, the attorney for the developer sent this statement on behalf of DonMar Development Corporation and the DiGioia family.

"We intend to vigorously oppose these baseless allegations. Earlier this year, BLT requested $30,000 from my clients in exchange for them not pursuing threatened legal action. Extortion is defined as 'the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.' DonMar Development was granted approvals by the IWWA, secured permits from town staff and has worked in collaboration with town staff to ensure proper controls and mitigation. In point of fact, they hired a well respected engineering firm, Milone and McBroom, to make a series of recommendations that would improve conditions," Timothy M. Herbst wrote. "BLT has refused to allow these recommendations to be implemented as it would require access onto their property."

The land trust says that in a in a June 19, 2019, a report from soil scientist William Kenny noted, “We find that the development has adversely impacted wetlands and that the primary reasons for the impacts are an excessive and non-compliant amount of land disturbance and insufficient measures to adequately prevent the discharge of sediments and turbid surface waters to the wetlands.”

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and money damages for the cost of restoring the wetlands to their natural condition.

“The Branford Land Trust prefers to protect its properties through cooperation, but DonMar responded with wild threats of litigation and accusations of extortion. They didn’t leave much room for reasonable discussion,” Ainsworth said in the statement posted on the trust website.

Herbst said in response: "What I find disturbing is that Mr. Raymond continues to attack a well respected engineering firm that currently employs his wife. He has lodged complaints with local town staff and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Because they didn’t acquiesce to his demands, they now seek to weaponize the judicial system."