CT Construction Digest Friday June 5, 2020

Developer eyes 111-unit apartment complex in Bloomfield
Joe Cooper
Avner Krohn, one of the most active developers in downtown New Britain in recent years, is proposing to build a 111-unit multi-family housing development on vacant Bloomfield land.
Krohn's company, Jasko Development LLC, which is partnering in the project with Brian Zelman of Zelman Real Estate LLC, last week received master plan and zone change approvals from the town’s planning and zoning commission to build the four-story structure at 54, 56, 65 and 80 Jolley Dr.
The site is less than a half-mile from where Jasko Development and Zelman recently completed a 14,459-square-foot medical office building at 10 Jolley Dr.
The group still needs a special permit and site plan approval from the zoning commission, and others from the inland wetlands commission, before Jasko Development's in-house construction team can break ground on the proposed project, according to Town Planner Jose Giner.

It’s not yet clear how much the development would cost to build, but Krohn in an interview said construction could begin this fall or next spring and is expected to last about a year. 

Krohn said he plans to close on acquiring a small piece of the vacant, 17-acre Jolley Drive property in the coming weeks. The land, he said, has been eyed for development over the last 35 or so years.
“We felt there is definitely a demand that we have seen in the market,” he said, adding the development would likely serve individuals working for large nearby employers, like Cigna. “Bloomfield really has a core and growing business community.”
[Read more: Bloomfield sees steady development boom]
According to plans, the residential building would include a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom market-rate apartments. It will also house 8,000 square feet of community and amenity space with a courtyard, pool and other amenities.

A surface parking lot is also expected to provide 161 spaces, or about 1.5 spaces per unit. There will be no retail use on-site.

“We are finalizing plans still but it will be a highly-amenitized building,” he said. “We are going to try to incorporate the building within the natural setting.”
Jasko Development in recent years has mostly been focused on buying decaying properties to revitalize neighborhoods and, wherever possible, do historic rehabilitations. It has also completed ground-up development of medical, retail and other multi-family sites in New Britain, Meriden, Bristol, Torrington and Enfield, among other towns in Connecticut.
As previously reported, Krohn stumbled on New Britain in 2006 when he took a wrong turn while passing through Connecticut. Krohn has said when he discovered the city he found it charming, and was impressed with its potential, historic architecture and the desire of residents he met to turn things around.
Krohn has also chaired the New Britain Downtown District where he participated in urban planning, streetscape design and promoted a “gentrification” of the city.

CTDOT gets nearly $225M in federal funds for transit expenses
Sean Teehan
The Federal Transit Administration awarded Connecticut's Department of Transportation $224.3 million to cover COVID-19-related expenses for rail and bus operations.
The FTA money is meant to cover things like personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and driver salaries, a DOT statement said.
“Our trains and buses continue to operate around Connecticut, and this funding will help ensure we can continue this essential service during this critical and challenging time," DOT Commissioner Joe Giulietti said.
The majority of the $224.3 million will go toward rail, with $150 million earmarked for the New Haven Line, New Canaan Line, Danbury Line, and Waterbury Line and $6 million for Shore Line East, according to the DOT. CTtransit, CTtransit Express, and CTfastrak services statewide will receive $50 million, while rural transit services will get $10.1 million.

DOT has also awarded $8.2 million of the funds to bus and transit districts across the state, and has $19.2 million in pending awards for transit districts.

 

DEEP memo says Tilcon quarrying redirected water toward North Branford pond

Meghan Friedmann

NORTH BRANFORD — Tilcon’s quarrying activities in North Branford altered area drainage patterns, sending more water toward Cedar Pond, according to a 2008 state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection memo.

Over the last year or so, residents who live near Cedar Pond, also called Cedar Lake, have reported issues with flooding at the site.

A variety of factors have contributed to the problem. One is increased development along Route 80, which has increased the amount of runoff that goes to the lake.

Tilcon also pumps water out of the quarry and toward the lake, which officials have said isn’t draining at the rate it should be, possibly due to clogging or overgrowth.

And while a 2018 DEEP memo contends that non-quarry stormwater is a bigger contributor to the lake than the water Tilcon pumps, the 2008 memo, penned by environmental analyst Brian Golembiewski, makes the case that the company’s quarrying activities altered drainage patterns in the area.

The memo was included in a packet of documents available at North Branford Town Hall, submitted by a resident who had complained about Tilcon’s activity. The New Haven Register confirmed the memo’s authenticity with the DEEP.

Tilcon’s expansion of the quarry after 1990 “significantly affected the boundaries of the subregional drainage basin and impacted inland wetlands and watercourses,” Golembiewski wrote.

Representatives Chris Costello and Frank Lane of Tilcon did not return an email request for comment.

Tilcon’s property, which sits about a mile northwest of Cedar Pond, covers some 600 acres north of Route 80 at its intersection with Route 22.

The mined portion of the site looks like a crescent-shaped depression lining the western boundary of Lake Gaillard. It spans at least 300 acres, according to a measuring tool available via CT ECO images.

Golembiewski estimated that Tilcon expanded its quarry by about 80 acres between 1990 and 2008, intercepting runoff that would have flowed westerly along a ridgeline and into a tributary of the Farm River.

Instead, that water was sent in the direction of Cedar Pond, according to the memo.

Golembiewski did not specifically name Cedar Pond when he described the diversion. Instead, he wrote that the quarrying redirected water from the Farm River subregional drainage basin into the Branford River subregional drainage basin.

The latter basin contains Cedar Pond, according to a map available via the University of Connecticut.

And while the 80-acre expansion represented the change post-1990, “overall, more than 300 acres of the Farm River subregional drainage basin … has been diverted into the Branford River subregional drainage basin … by the construction of the quarry,” Golembiewski argued.

The 2008 memo did note that “the Farm River is extremely flood prone and that this diversion into the Branford River subregional basin may have a positive effect on flooding therein.”

In an interview last month, Golembiewski confirmed that Tilcon’s activity sent more water to Cedar Pond.

“One watershed gets less runoff,” he said. “And one watershed gets more.”

In his memo, Golembiewski contended that the quarry itself should qualify as a diversion and therefore fell under the DEEP’s regulatory authority thanks to the Water Diversion Act.

But Tilcon took the department to court on the issue, and the state lost, with the judge deciding that digging was not a diversion, Golembiewski said in last month’s interview.

The DEEP can still regulate some activities at the site, such as the movement of water from one part of the quarry to another, according to Golembiewski.

Tilcon also requires permits to pump water off the site.

Now, the company is looking to change the zoning on the northernmost portion of its property from residential to industrial.

While company representatives have emphasized that they only plan to use the rezoned land for stockpiling, residents have expressed concerns that Tilcon may decide it wants to quarry the area later on.

At a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last month, they worried about the impact additional mining could have on the environment, on property values and on the noise in the area.

As the town broadcast the meeting via Facebook live, some residents shared their thoughts via the comments section of the video. Town Planner Carey Duques also read some public comments submitted prior to the meeting.

A few complained that Tilcon’s blasting felt like an “earthquake.”

The zoning change has not yet been approved.

Duques did not know whether increased activity at the site of the proposed change would increase the amount of water that goes to Cedar Pond, she said in an email Wednesday.

But she had requested more information on the activities that would occur on the property if the town approves Tilcon’s request, she continued.