Valley Independent Sentinel

Shelton Approves Plan To Correct Prosecutor’s Property

by Melvin Mason | Mar 9, 2010 11:08 pm

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Posted to: Shelton

The Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday closed the book on the controversial land-filling case at the property of Paul Gaetano, the top prosecutor at Superior Court in Derby.

The commission voted 4-1 to approve a “temporary, special exception” site plan for Mark IV Construction to do work at Gaetano’s home. Joan Flannery voted against the plan.

Gaetano and the company he hired ran into trouble with the land use board after neighbor complaints revealed Gaetano never received a permit to bring in some 7,000 cubic yards of dirt fill onto his property.

The dirt turned a hill into a flat yard. Neighbors have repeatedly expressed concerns over whether the materials in the fill posed a hazard to the environment.

As part of the resolution, Mark IV will have to remove 40 percent – or 2,800 of the 7,000 cubic yards of material that was dumped on the property to eliminate the hill.

The hill will also have to be graded at a 3-to-1 incline, replacing the current level surface.

Planning and Zoning Director Rick Schultz added that Mark IV will have to add trees and shrubs to the property — and they’ll have to establish a truck traffic control program in the area.

In addition, the company will provide testing of private wells within 500 feet of the property for two years.

The monitoring program will be reviewed by the planning and zoning department, Schultz said.

Several residents living near the Gaetanos expressed frustration with the fill project, concerned asphalt on the property could contaminate their wells.

Some residents were not pleased with the decision. Laurie Sporko, who lives near the Gaetano property, said she would have preferred to have all of it taken out all of the materials.

Schultz said the commission had to consider what would have been allowed had Mark IV started from scratch.

“The consensus of the commission was they felt that this was a reasonable resolution,” Schultz said.

Commission Chairwoman Ruth Perkins said the topic was an emotional issue, but they had to balance the community’s concerns with the right of the property owner to exercise his right.

“Albeit it was an after-the-fact application, we just tried to work with all parties to come to a reasonable resolution and I think the commission feels that they did that,” Perkins said.

Gaetano’s attorney, Dominick Thomas, said some of the conditions go beyond temporary special exception rules, but he will review the conditions of the resolution with Mark IV.

“It’s a matter of sitting down with Mark IV, who will do most of the work,” he said.

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