Planning and Zoning officials Tuesday didn’t have trouble envisioning an emergency generator proposed for the Wesley Heights apartment complex off Long Hill Avenue.
The generator is already standing and neighbor Geraldine DeLibero had the pictures to prove it.
“How would you like to sit on your front lawn and look at this structure?” DeLibero said to the board, while passing out the photos.
DeLibero lives in the Views of Long Hill condominiums across the street from the Wesley Heights apartments, and said she was shocked one day to see the generator.
Commissioners, too, were shocked when neighbors complained about it.
The structure had never come before the Planning and Zoning Commission, which is required procedure before any building permit is issued.
But United Methodist Homes, which owns Wesley Heights, had a building permit.
So Robert Congdon, the vice president for public relations at United Methodist Homes, said he was surprised to get a call from the zoning department asking him to submit a proposal for the already-built generator.
How Did It Happen?
Commissioners Tuesday were concerned about more items, like the generator, coming before the Planning and Zoning Commission after they were built. But Building Official Elliot Wilson Wednesday said the Wesley Heights generator was a one-time mistake that slipped through the building office.
“They included the generator with the electrical permit,” Wilson said, “which I did not pick up until Zoning mentioned it to us. I’m sure it’s in compliance, but they didn’t go through the proper procedure. They didn’t have the OK.”
Still, the application had commissioners upset.
“I don’t want to set a precedent of this occurring,” said commissioner Ruth Parkins.
Chairman Anthony Pogoda wondered if the neighbors’ concerns could have been allayed had the item come before the commission.
“At least we would have had the opportunity to look at it,” Pogoda said.
The neighbors
The Wesley Heigths apartments are part of a 39-acre complex called Wesley Village, which has rental cottages, apartments and an assisted living facility. The whole site is owned and managed by United Methodist Homes, and Congdon said the average resident age is mid to high 80s.
But a condominium complex – The Views of Long Hill – juts into a portion of the 39-acre Wesley Village campus, sitting on land United Methodist Homes used to own, Congdon said. That’s where DeLibero lives, and where she said many residents have views of the generator from their porches.
They thought it was temporary, DeLibero said.
Tuesday United Method Homes presented plans to blend the generator in with landscaping, but DeLibero worried that any trees planted would take too long to reach heights tall enough to fully block the 12-foot-high structure.
“If they put trees there, we might be dead by the time they grow big enough,” DeLibero said.
Other residents of The Views of Long Hill were less concerned. The condo’s board of directors chairman Betty Wallis also attended the meeting, and sat next to Congdon. After DeLibero spoke, Wallis told commissioners only a few condo residents shared DeLibero’s views.
“Wesley Heights has made a lot of important changes and everything is of the highest caliber,” Wallis said after the meeting. “To judge it before it’s finished…. when it’s only going to run once in a blue moon. I mean, how often do the lights go out?”
Congdon said the generator would likely run during 15-minute tests each week, during 30-minute monthly tests and when the apartment complex loses power.
Sound Tests
But the members of the Planning and Zoning Commission were not as convinced about the generator, and discussed the possibility of making United Methodist Homes move or remove it.
Tuesday, the commission took no action on the proposal, telling Congdon to wait to complete the installation until commissioners had a chance to come out for a sound test.
“If it is loud, there may be some other sound abatement waiver, there may need to be another wall put up,” Pogoda said.
Botti Dirt Pile Raises Other Concerns
The generator wasn’t the only “after-the-fact” proposal to get under the skin of planning and zoning commissioners Tuesday.
Late into the 3‑hour-long meeting, commissioner Chris Jones, who is running for mayor against incumbent Mark A. Lauretti, brought up another issue.
Jones said he was concerned about a proposal at 35 Maple Ave., which is owned by Shelton developer James Botti, who faces federal charges of bribery and defrauding the citizens of Shelton, as well as structuring money and making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service.
Botti wants to build a home in the place of one that burned down on the property, but Jones said there has been site work done at the property before Botti got permits.
“Were the necessary permits pulled for the 60-foot pile of dirt?” Jones asked. “This is another instance when they’re doing work before permits.”
In this case, Botti had not secured any permits for the work before digging to lay foundation at the site, and was issued a stop-work order on July 14 by zoning enforcement officer Thomas Dingle.
But by July 31, the order was lifted because the initial permits had been granted. Botti was unable to be reached for comment Wednesday.
The issue brought out more concerns from commissioners.
“Doesn’t the building department know when things need Planning and Zoning approval?” asked Parkins.
They do, said Schultz, but sometimes work gets started without those permits.
“We have proper checks and balances,” Schultz said. “That’s why we issued a stop work order.”
