WALLINGFORD — The Planning and Zoning Commission is slated to consider a moratorium on warehousing and manufacturing development in the watershed protection district.
The commission is scheduled to meet Feb. 14. The moratorium would be effective upon passage and expire May 31, with the option to extend, Town Planner Kevin Pagini said Monday.
The moratorium would temporarily prohibit accepting or approving development applications for warehousing and/or manufacturing on all properties in the Watershed Protection Overlay District, according to a draft of the proposed change.
The watershed protection district on the east side of town is mostly residential with some businesses, and contains some of the Industrial Expansion (IX) Zone and roughly two-thirds of the the Interchange District (I-5) Zone.
Pagini said that he wanted to hit pause on applications in the watershed protection district while proposed regulation changes to the overall district — introduced at PZC workshop last October— are reviewed and revised by the commission.
There are no pending applications for the area, Pagini said.
The former Bristol-Myers Squibb property, about 180 acres at 5 Research Parkway, lies within the IX and the watershed zones. The PZC has rejected two plans in the past three years to develop warehouse and distribution operations on the property.
Pagini said the Feb. 14 commission meeting won’t have a continuation of the public hearing on proposed regulation changes to allow data centers in the IX and I-5 zones. He said that he’s waiting on the availability of the sound engineer whom the town consulted with to present further information.
Plans resurface
The watershed protection district overlays the area to the north of Mackenzie Reservoir — the source of the town’s drinking water.
The district exists to protect the flow of surface waters to the Wallingford, Meriden and South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority public water supply watersheds by providing additional conditions and standards to the permitted uses.
Plans to change the zoning regulations to expand the types of development within the public drinking water supply areas were introduced in December 2020, but withdrawn in January 2021 at the request of Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.
The plans resurfaced Oct. 5 when Pagini and Town Engineer Alison Kapushinski presented an overview of changes during a special workshop meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The proposed regulation changes to the watershed protection district include eliminating the I-5 zone by making the section north of Barnes Road and west of Northrop Road part of the I-X zone and the rest part of a proposed new Watershed Interchange (WI) District.
The WI zone also would include the existing IX zone parcels within the watershed protection district and is being proposed to utilize land with accessibility to Interstate 91 for low intensity uses while protecting the public drinking water, according to the proposed changes.
The WI zone would impose parking and loading maximums, limit uses that require large parking areas and encourage natural open space instead of landscaped open space.
Data centers would be allowed with a special permit and specific restrictions, such as sound and vibration impact analysis.
Other changes include creating storm water management regulations for the entire town and stricter regulation of the watershed protection district.
Data centers
Under the proposed changes, the IX zone would be modernized and more specific uses would be added, according to Pagini and Kapushinski’s presentation.
The open space requirement would be reduced by 10 percent, down to 40 percent, and building coverage would be increased by 5 percent, rising to 30 percent.
Any parcel in the IX that has a portion in the watershed protection district would be subject to a special permit to assess the potential impact to the public drinking water supply.
Data centers would be allowed via special permit plus the other restrictions. Parcel sorting and retail distribution facilities would be subject to the special permit process.
[email protected]: @LCTakores
