Enfield Residents Speak Against Planned Industrial Development

ENFIELD, CT —More than two dozen Enfield residents spoke at a public hearing of the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency Tuesday, mainly in opposition to the proposed construction of an 819,000 square foot distribution center with accompanying parking, loading docks and trailer parking at the rear of the existing Winstanley Logistics Center at 25 Bacon Road.

The proposal by Winstanley Enterprises of Concord, Mass. would involve building the structure on farmland nestled between Crescent and Shaker Pines lakes. Two tenant spaces are planned, one consisting of 318,000 square feet and the other occupying the remaining 501,000 square feet. The tenants have not yet been named publicly.

Earth berms are included on the site plan to the east and west of the building to provide additional visual and buffering to the adjacent Shaker Pines and Spruceland neighborhoods. The proposed site plan also addresses access from Cottage Road to the property, an issue raised by neighbors of the Shaker Pines Lake Association. An improved locked gate and reinforced gravel road is included in the plan.

After an hour-long presentation about the proposed development by Winstanley representatives, 25 residents, mainly from the abutting lake communities, took another 75 minutes to express their concerns about stormwater flow, disturbance of area wildlife and the essential role of a farmer's pond in the center of the property, known for decades as "The Oasis."

Randy Daigle of Cottage Road said the pond is "100 percent spring-fed by an aquifer," adding that a consequence of removing the pond would be, "These lakes will dry up."

In response to a point made during the initial presentation about creating "new wetlands" on about five acres of the parcel to replace the pond, Nancy Martin of Crescent Beach Drive said, "When you said that you would take the five acres and turn them into new wetlands as you call it, that it seems to help. It's my opinion that what seems to help is that we keep our already existing wetlands intact."

Board chair Donna Corbin-Sobinski said about 10 emails had been received from residents. Assistant Town Planner Georgienna Driver read excerpts from those communications, most of which pertained to the effects on the lakes and wildlife.

Winstanley representative Jim Petropulos addressed one point, stating, "This property does not drain into Crescent Lake."

Attorney Thomas Cote, on behalf of the applicant, said, "None of the research and investigation we have done indicates that there are any wildlife species that would directly impact the physical characteristics of the wetlands themselves, and so we would submit that the comments about wildlife tonight really are not relevant to your decision-making on the application."

Following 13 more minutes of public input from six residents, the agency voted to close the public hearing after nearly three and a half hours. A decision on the application was tabled until the next regular meeting, slated for Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers.

The complete public hearing may be viewed below.