Developer withdraws wetlands plan for 90 units of housing at Renz Pond

MONROE, CT — Quarry Ridge Associates withdrew its wetlands application for a plan to build 90 single-family dwellings at 141 and 201 Turkey Roost Road, after an independent consultant told the Inland Wetlands Commission the application was incomplete.

The commission unanimously voted to accept the developer’s request to withdraw the application during a special meeting Wednesday night.

In 2010, land use approvals were obtained for a 90-unit age 55-and-older community, but it was never built and those approvals expired.

Despite the previous approvals, Russell Dirienzo, principal geologist for Arcadis in Sandy Hook, who was hired by the commission as an independent consultant, said the latest proposal must be treated as a brand new application.

“This is a complicated proposal that relied solely on outdated engineering and stormwater management measures,” Dirienzo told Town Planner Rick Schultz and the commission in an opinion letter dated Nov. 17.

“The application does not provide a feasible and prudent alternative, as required by IWC regulations,” he continued. “The application lacks pertinent and important information. Allowing the applicant to submit that amount of information at this stage of the process would set a dangerous precedent for future applications.”

“I recommend that the Commission consider a denial of this application without prejudice, or suggest that the application be withdrawn and resubmitted at a later date,” Dirienzo concluded.

Known as the Renz pond property, the 106-acre site was home to an illegal quarry in 1952, with the activity going on for several decades, damaging the land and wetlands, while sparking a long history of litigation.

Aside from a new wetlands approval, Quarry Ridge Associates had wanted to lift the age restriction and build 5,570 linear feet of roadway to access the housing.

Quarry Ridge Associates has the option of submitting a revised plan based upon Dirienzo’s recommendations at a later date. No representatives for the developer spoke at Wednesday’s meeting.

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