The city’s planning and zoning commission has more questions than answers concerning a proposed rock crushing operation near BJ’s Wholesale Club on Division Street.
William Korolyshun has an application in front of the commission that would allow him to process material he owns on the land for no more than two years.
However, the planning and zoning commission still does not know how much material he wants to process, whether there is wetland on the site or what steps Korolyshun will take to control dust, noise and truck traffic to and from the site.
Residents at a public hearing on the application June 16 worried about the affect the operation would have on the nearby river walk, a popular, 2.7‑mile along stretching through downtown Derby along the Naugatuck River.
“This applicant should be held to stringent regulations,” said Al Misiewicz, a member of the planning and zoning commission. “This is a very public area, in my opinion. We should be very careful before we proceed with this.”
Resident Lucinda Ames said she often uses the river walk, calling it Derby’s “jewel.”
“I think it would be a terrible thing to put it by the greenway,” Ames said.
Randall Colette, of the Olde Birmingham Business Association, said a rock crushing operation doesn’t fit into what modern Derby is striving to become.
He questioned whether future business proposals in the BJ’s area would include a scrap yard or transfer station.
Bart Flaherty worried about traffic from the site leading to more problems on Division Street, a commercial corridor already heavily congested during the morning and evening rush hours.
Flaherty is chairman of the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission. He worried about the impact a rock crushing business would have on neighboring businesses.
“When Derby sneezes, Ansonia catches a cold, and vice versa,” Flaherty said.
Although unable to state just how much material would be processed — and how many trucks it would add to Division Street — Korolyshun told the commission it would well below 500,000 yards, a number that was floating around the city after the first public hearing on the application in May.
An amount that large would result in a truck leaving the property and entering Division Street about once every four minutes, Flaherty estimated. That would result in some 55,000 truck trips a year.
“If I could get 57,000 truck loads out of there … I wish I could do it,” Korolyshun said, joking.
The crushed rock would be used for construction projects, but Korolyshun said given the economy, he could not say how much material would be processed.
“If the economy was ‘normal,’ I would get rid of it in two years,” he said. “Tell me how good business will be in three years? You gotta ask Obama.”
Korolyshun also said the city has been in negotiations with the city about land the city wants to acquire from him for an access road.
Joseph Tracz, of Tracy’s Garage on Water Street, identified himself as a “character witness” for Korolyshun.
He said Korolyshun’s resume includes service as a volunteer firefighter — and he’s a lifelong Derby resident.
“He has a vested interest in keeping the greenway as it is,” Tracz said.
The planning and zoning commission continued the public hearing until its next meeting, at which time Korolyshun is expected to have more details about his plan.
