The Planning and Zoning Commission has postponed the third public hearing on the proposed contractors’ yard off Ethan Allen Highway.
The meeting, which was originally to have been Tuesday, was postponed at the request of the property owner, Larry Leary Development LLC.
The next meeting will be July 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex.
The contractors’ yard is a controversial proposal, with neighbors fighting it.
The neighbors have won before. In 2013, opponents ultimately chased away the proposed relocation of Danbury-based Ergotech Inc., a light manufacturing facility, to the commercial site, which is on the east side of Route 7 directly across from Little Pond.
A recent argument after a meeting that covered the construction yard led police to investigate. It’s not clear whether the altercation was about the construction yard, but at a subsequent meeting, a police officer was in attendance to keep the peace.
The longtime owner of the site, Larry Leary Development LLC, is applying for a pair of special permits, one for a multi-unit contractor’s yard to serve plumbers, electricians and other small contractors who need a garage to park their vehicles and warehouse space for work supplies like pipes and cables. The other permit is for the rock crushing, excavation and earth processing related to construction site preparation.
Neighbors haveexpressed their anger over the dynamite blasting that is planned for the site. That came at the previous public hearing.
In support of the proposal, the developer’s traffic engineer Tuesday said the contractor’s yard will not add to the busy Route 7 peak time traffic.
“Contractors work hours are from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., so they avoid the peak traffic times of 7 to 8 a.m. and 5 to 6 p.m.,” said the engineer, Steve Coppola.
The attorney for the project, Robert Jewell, said there would be very little daytime presence at the contractor’s yard.
“These are small jobbers like electricians. They don’t have any office staff,” Jewell said.
Traffic gets heavy during commuter hours on Route 7 near where a contractor’s yard is proposed. This is early evening looking south. The proposed development would be on the east side of Route 7, to the left. —Macklin Reid photo
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