Around Town
Gerrish Lane Property Owner Fined $1,000 for Inland Wetlands Violations
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After placing some 300 cubic yards of fill over and adjacent to wetlands without a permit, the new owner of a 1.14-acre property on Gerrish Lane faces a $1,000 fine from a town agency responsible for overseeing the sensitive environmental areas. Contracted workers at 128 Gerrish Lane drove construction equipment over wetlands and disturbed about .32 acres of land “by brush and tree removal, along with woodchipping, filling and grading activities in and out of wetlands,” according to a Feb. 11 municipal citation from the Inland Wetlands Commission. “These activities have disturbed the underlying wetlands that are protected under the [Inland Wetlands and Watercourses] Regulations,” according to the notice of violations. “No soil and erosion controls were installed at the initial inspection.”
Specifically, the property owner has been cited for violating sections 5.4 and 7 of the regulations—see pages 14 and 16 here. Municipal workers who oversee inland wetlands in New Canaan said in an email on file at Town Hall that they became aware of the situation after receiving a complaint regarding “truckloads of fill being delivered and spread on the site.”
The Inland Wetlands Commission is scheduled to discuss the matter at its regular meeting on Monday night.