Blumenthal Fights Preserve Court Ruling in Lower Connecticut River Valley

REGIONAL - The legal battle is far from over regarding the 1,000 acre Preserve property.

A 2005 permit by River Sound Development to develop a golf course and 220 homes on the property was denied by the Old Saybrook Inlands Wetlands Commission, IWC, and was upheld by Superior Court Judge Aurigemma in February.

However, Aurigemma upheld an IWC permit issued in 2004 for a proposal, originally submitted in 2000, to develop a free-standing golf course by a now-defunct developer.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has asked the Connecticut Appellate Court to hear an appeal to the upholding of that permit.

"I am disappointed that the judge failed to enforce an earlier court ruling clearly compelling the Old Saybrook IWC to reconsider this application. I am asking the Appellate Court to overturn this decision, assuring reconsideration of this project, which threatens to seriously and irreparably harm this precious natural resource," Blumenthal said.

The earlier permit was granted in 2004 by Old Saybrook IWC for a golf course with the condition that the developer post a $300,000 bond for pesticide management and to compensate property owners whose wells could be contaminated by runoff.

Superior Court Judge Lynda Munro ruled in May 2004 that state law did not allow IWC to require a bond for the permit.

Munro ordered the bond be voided, the permit be rescinded, and the application be reconsidered.

While the IWC voided the bond provision, they failed to reconsider the permit.

Aurigemma's decision overturned Munro's which allows the IWC golf course permit to stand.

In his appeal to the Appellate Court, Blumenthal says that Superior Court judges cannot overturn each other's rulings and hopes to have the Appellate Court enforce the original decision forcing the application to be reconsidered.

Blumenthal filed his appeal on behalf of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy.

"The DEP asked the Attorney General's Office to move this case forward because we feel that further review is necessary on the earlier inland wetlands application for a golf course on the Preserve. As a result of the court's action, a local permit still exists for the golf course," McCarthy said.

In a February 2006 letter, McCarthy wrote that the DEP will not approve applications to build an overpass over the Valley Railroad State Park, a 100-foot-wide right-of-way running through portions of the eastern side of the Preserve. The park is currently being leased to Essex Steam Train.

A request by River Sound Development for such an overpass was specifically denied by McCarthy who claimed their plan would reduce the passageway to only a 20 foot width allowing passage of only a single train, and would "further limit the use of this railway to trains of a certain width and height" and that it was unclear "how wetlands, species at risk, and local stormwater runoff would be affected".

Roger Reynolds, Senior Staff Attorney for Connecticut Fund for the Environment believes the 2004 permit poses less of a threat.

"That decision will not result in the development of the property because the application is seriously outdated and out of compliance with the current zoning regulations" Reynolds said. "While it is largely a technicality at this point, we are asking the court to reverse that decision because the Commission failed to consider the environmental impact that the golf course would have on the wetlands before approving it."

The Preserve, Reynolds said, "is home to several protected species as well as being a fragile ecosystem that cannot tolerate the blasting, grading, clearing, and chemical use inherent in a project of this scope. We hope this will encourage a conservation purchase of the parcel."