Massive Housing Project To Go Before Simsbury Wetlands Board

SIMSBURY, CT — A massive housing development at the site of a once-prominent, but now shuttered, local employer will go before the public next month.

A proposal to build 669 residential units at 200 Hopmeadow St. will undergo a public hearing after the Simsbury Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency unanimously determined the project could significantly affect nearby wetlands and watercourses.

The project is proposed for the former Hartford Insurance campus on Hopmeadow Street, reviving a project that was rejected by town zoning officials in 2024.

At its March 17 meeting, the agency voted 5-0 to classify the application, filed by SL Simsbury LLC, as having a potential significant impact and scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. on April 21 at the Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St.

The application seeks a wetlands permit for a large residential development with associated site improvements in the upland review area of the Hartford South property, which closed more than a decade ago.

Attorney T.J. Donahue and engineer Paul Vitaliano, representing the applicant, presented an overview of the proposal, including existing wetlands and watercourses on and around the site.

Commissioners raised questions about the scale of the development and its stormwater management plan, focusing on how runoff and site changes could affect surrounding wetlands.

They also emphasized the need to evaluate whether alternative designs could reduce environmental impacts.

In a second unanimous vote, the agency determined the proposal meets the town’s criteria for a “large and complex project.”

That designation requires the applicant to fund an independent review by a qualified third-party soil and wetland scientist and professional engineer.

The April 21 hearing will allow the public to weigh in as the agency continues its review of the project’s potential environmental impacts.

Once the wetlands board makes a decision, development plans will then go before the town's zoning commission.

For the minutes of the March 17 Simsbury Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency meeting, click on this link.

From March 16: 'Simsbury Wetlands Board Receives Application For Massive Housing Project At Former Insurance Company Site'

From Feb. 28, 2024: 'Huge Development Project Dead In Simsbury'