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04/18/2018 08:00 AMI’m opposed to the Shoreline Rail & Recycling industrial waste recycling facility proposal, currently before Clinton’s inland Wetland Commission (IWC), for both environmental and aesthetic reasons.
Environmentally, I feel this facility’s day-to-day operations may pollute the surrounding wetlands and, were there to be a fire or flooding, might discharge pollutants into adjoining wetlands. Additionally, Connecticut’s Department of Agriculture is concerned about the adverse impact this facility might have on our shellfish beds.
Aesthetically, the proposed facility would be diagonally across from that part of Clinton’s Village Zone (VZ), which runs along the west side of Route 145 to the railroad tracks. The Planning & Zoning Commission created the VZ to maintain the character and scale of a small New England village. It’s characterized by governmental and religious structures on generous, open lots, as well as residential-scale historic buildings. The VZ is meant to ensure that new development (or redevelopment) within the zone is consistent and compatible with the character of the zone’s current streetscape. Its objectives include maintenance of a village scale by preventing erection of new structures (other than civic buildings), which are noticeably larger than the current, residential-scale buildings; reduction of visual clutter and the establishment of architecture and landscaping, which reflect the shoreline nature and history of Clinton; promotion of the zone as an attractive extension of the business district, while encouraging pedestrian activity; and adherence to strict site and architectural design standards meant to promote new development of residential scale, which will harmonize and be compatible with those already in the existing VZ streetscape.
The proposed facility does not meet any of these criteria and though it would be just outside the VZ, is this what Clinton wants adjacent to it?
Thus, I encourage the IWC to reject this dangerous proposal.
Peggy Adler
Clinton