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04/26/2016 04:20 PMJust two days before a decision was set to come down, Costco Wholesale Corporation notified the chairman of Branford Inlands Wetlands Agency (IWA) today that the company is withdrawing its application site plan, which had been under review for the past four months. The IWA was set to vote on whether to approve or turn down the plan on Thursday, April 28. First Selectman James B. Cosgrove said he will "remain committed" to bringing the business to Branford. Costco has the option of re-submitting an application to the town.
In the letter addressed to IWA chairman Daniel Shapiro, Costco attorney Tom Cody of Robinson & Cole (Hartford) described the corporation as working with the town to "bring the best possible store to Branford," from the point of initiating a Planned Development District (PDD) application 18 months ago.
The PDD would develop 44 acres of property off I-95 at Exit 56; including a 158,000 square-foot Costco and 16-pump gas station (Phase One) together with seven additional retail/commercial buildings (occupants to be determined) to be built as Phase Two. It was approved in July 2015 by the Branford Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC). Cody expressed that Costco had continued to work with the town when it came to the most recent piece of the process, the application that was before the IWA.
Costco is one of three applicants involved in the IWA application, which incorporates three contiguous parcels of land, with Costco's East Main Street property being the largest. As of the close of business at Town Hall today, representatives of the other two properties involved in the plan had not withdrawn their applications, Inland Wetlands Enforcement Officer Diana Ross told The Sound/Zip06.com.
From nearly the start of submitting its application to the IWA last September, issues arose. While Costco said it was attempting to comply with the request of the PZC to submit all phases of its PDD for IWA review, the resulting blizzard of paper work, brought in as three separate applications, was daunting. Costco came in under the wire in delivering the documents, handing in the paperwork just ahead of the close of Inlands Wetlands office hours on Sept. 9 and just in time to have the item added to the IWA's regularly scheduled Sept. 10 meeting. When the IWA failed to hire a peer review consultant more than a month into the application process, Costco withdrew its application in November, then immediately resubmitted it without changes, to reset the clock on starting the public hearing and what is generally an extension period of 65 days for the IWA to review and rule on an application.
By the time the Costco application's first public hearing opened in January, two intervenors, Branford Land Trust (BLT) and Branford Citizens for Responsible Development, had signed on as parties of record for the application process. The first hearing opened only on Costco Wholesale's portion of the application.
In February, the IWA, which had orginally wanted to continue with three separate public hearings (one for each application) deemed it necessary to incorporate the other two entities into the same public hearing process in order to get a "big picture view" of the overall application. Back in October 2015, that idea was actually broached by attorney Cody, but the IWA decided against it. On Oct. 8, Cody asked IWA to review the three applications as one, saying, "At the end, you can break it out and make three separate decisions on the three separate applications that have been submitted. Combining them into one pubic hearing would give the benefit having all of the information on the 44-acre project and be more efficient." However, at that time, Ross stated that town attorney Bill Aniskovich requested three separate hearings. IWA Chair Shapiro agreed, noting it would be "better for housekeeping and keeping the records straight."
With the public hearing underway in February, Costco and BLT met offline and meted out a list of stipulations that, if Costco complied, would satisfy BLT concerns about adverse impacts on 900 acres of BLT land in the vicinity. The IWA asked Costco to submit an application with modifications showing the stipulations had been addressed.
A peer review taking into account those stipulated changes to Costco's application was conducted by the town's hired engineering firm, Milone & MacBroom Inc. (MMI). On March 24, Costco then raised an alarm about that MMI review, after taking into consideration an email chain reported by a local blogger on March 21 that showed MMI, Inland Wetlands Enforcement Officer Ross, and IWA Chairman Shapiro had discussed and made to changes to the final version of the review sent to Costco March 9. Also on March 24, First Selectman Cosgrove released a statement announcing that, due to allegations raised, a staff review would be conducted in the matter of the email chain incident.
Cosgrove's statement, as previously reported, noted, "We are currently engaged in a careful review of the issues and information raised in the recent press report regarding the conduct of certain individuals involved in the Costco wetlands application process. I want to assure the citizens of Branford that we intend to take every appropriate and necessary step in response to the facts to assure an open and fair process for all applicants, intervenors, and the taxpayers of our Town."
To date, no review results have been released by the First Selectman's office.
In early April, Costco sent a letter to Shapiro noting Costco objected to the changes found in the final peer review and that the IWA should avoid using that review in its deliberations on the application. In response, MMI sent the town a letter April 13 noting it stood beside its work and conduct as acceptable practice. The final peer review letter of March 9 was a bone of contention raised by Costco on the final night of the public hearing, April 14, together with other concerns. See Zip06/The Sound's story on the April 14 hearing here
In Cody's April 26 letter notifying of withdrawal of Costco's application, issues with the peer review letter were again noted. Cody said Costco Wholesale Corp. had "previously expressed to the commission specific concerns about the manner in which this application has been reviewed and processed by wetlands staff. Although we continue to believe that the record is very clear that the pending application fully complies with all applicable regulations and state guidance documents, we remain concerned that the important issues Costco has raised have not been fully resolved. Accordingly, Costco Wholesale Corporation respectfully withdraws the pending inland wetlands permit application IW#15.11.01 effective immediately."
Late this afternoon, Cosgrove released the following statement on news of the application withdrawal: "As someone who believes that a clear majority of Branford residents support this development, this news is disappointing. I was encouraged by the constructive dialogue between the Branford Land Trust and the applicant during the public hearing and the responsible manner in which land trust issues were raised and addressed by Costco. I remain committed to bringing Costco to Branford. As we embark on a variety of major investments to improve the quality of life in our town, we need corporate citizens who can significantly and responsibly expand our tax base. Costco's proposed development at Exit 56 is a key to that expansion."
While Costco has withdrawn this application, it doesn't mean that the corporation is giving up on the idea of building in Branford. Other companies have withdrawn, and then resubmitted applications, mainly in cases where more time was needed for refinement than what was available as part of the town's review window. As of today, Costco has not discussed whether it will resubmit with the town's Inlands Wetlands Office, according to staff.
The IWA vote on April 28 would have been based on whether Costco submitted an application which incorporates the most feasible and prudent alternatives to cause the least amount of impact to wetlands and watercourses.
If Costco does choose to resubmit, the new application could go before an IWA with many as five new members. Out of the seven current IWA voting members, four who would have voted on April 28 have terms which expire May 31, including Chairman Shapiro. An IWA alternate's seat, vacant due to a member's death, also has a term which expires May 31. The IWA has seven voting members and three alternates; terms last three years.
Generally, town commission nominations, such as those for IWA, are submitted to the first selectman by the town's political parties and, by Town Charter, the first selectman has the role of finalizing nominees for appointment. Appointments are then confirmed by a majority vote of the three-member Board of Selectmen (BOS), which currently retains a Republican majority. Cosgrove's last three IWA appointments in August 2015, made by 2-1 vote of the BOS, were controversial as Democrats and Shapiro became upset with Cosgrove's decision not to re-appoint two long-standing commissioners with more than 34 years of experience between them. Cosgrove also did not move to re-appoint a sitting alternate and additionally decided not to elevate two sitting IWA alternates to voting members, but to instead install the two new IWA appointees as voting members. Cosgrove maintained the change was needed to ensure "balance" in the system. See the full story here