After placing some 300 cubic yards of fill over and adjacent to wetlands without a permit, the new owner of a 1.14-acre property on Gerrish Lane faces a $1,000 fine from a town agency responsible for overseeing the sensitive environmental areas.
Contracted workers at 128 Gerrish Lane drove construction equipment over wetlands and disturbed about .32 acres of land “by brush and tree removal, along with woodchipping, filling and grading activities in and out of wetlands,” according to a Feb. 11 municipal citation from the Inland Wetlands Commission.
“These activities have disturbed the underlying wetlands that are protected under the [Inland Wetlands and Watercourses] Regulations,” according to the notice of violations. “No soil and erosion controls were installed at the initial inspection.”
Specifically, the property owner has been cited for violating sections 5.4 and 7 of the regulations—see pages 14 and 16 here. Municipal workers who oversee inland wetlands in New Canaan said in an email on file at Town Hall that they became aware of the situation after receiving a complaint regarding “truckloads of fill being delivered and spread on the site.”
The Inland Wetlands Commission is scheduled to discuss the matter at its regular meeting on Monday night. The citation itself was issued not only to the homeowner but also to a Westport-based contractor and landscaping and excavating company out of Easton.
The property at 128 Gerrish Lane, with its 1977-built ranch-style home, sold for $1,650,000 in August, according to tax records.
The town last month issued a permit for the property’s owner to construct a new semi-attached garage and renovate two floors in the house. According to correspondence between Inland Wetlands officials and the contractor on that building job, the work did not require using any fill. The homeowner has told town officials in emails that several people who might have flagged wetlands on the property never did so, including the seller and listing real estate agent.