Wetlands board approves Blue Hills housing permit

Inland Wetlands · Meeting of July 20, 2026

BLOOMFIELD — The Bloomfield Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission approved a wetlands permit and subdivision for an affordable housing project at the First Baptist Church of Hartford's 1151 Blue Hills Avenue property. Chairman Alan Budkofsky and five other members voted unanimously to approve the permit for applicant Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc., waiving a $2,760 fee already paid under a withdrawn earlier application. Members rejected, 2-4, a motion by Byron Lester to cut the project's roughly $25,000 performance bond in half, with Budkofsky arguing "we have to be fair when we ask other people to put up $5,000 an acre" on what he called a potential "$100 million project." Attorney David Markowitz said approval was needed before the applicant's August 17 Planning and Zoning Commission hearing.

Separately, the commission lifted a notice of violation against Arthur Hardy at 69 Charter Avenue, giving him until October 19 to file a wetlands permit for an adjacent parcel, and opened a new enforcement matter against Andy Morrison at 1236 Blue Hills Avenue over an estimated 0.6-acre clearing violation.

In the full story:

• Call to Order and Roll Call
• Old Business: 1151 Blue Hills Avenue Wetlands Permit and Subdivision
• New Business: Duncaster Minor Modification
• Wetland Agent Permits
• Enforcement Actions
• Status of Ongoing Projects
• Approval of Minutes
• Other Business and Public Comment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,075 words

Source: the Inland Wetlands meeting of July 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.

The Full Article

Call to Order and Roll Call

The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission convened at 7:01 p.m. with five members present: Chairman Alan Budkofsky, Vice Chair Paul Shipman, Byron Lester, Glen Breland and Adam Ryczek. Secretary Kevin Wilcox joined moments later, giving the body the six-member quorum needed to act on a contested application. Members David Laiuppa and Stephen Millette did not attend; later in the meeting, members asked to defer a discussion of vernal pool regulations until Laiuppa, described as "the main guy in this topic," could participate.

Old Business: 1151 Blue Hills Avenue Wetlands Permit and Subdivision

Background and stakes: The application, filed by Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc. with First Baptist Church of Hartford as property owner, seeks to subdivide the church's 40-acre parcel and redevelop an underused auxiliary parking lot into affordable housing. An earlier version of the application was withdrawn at the commission's January 20, 2026 meeting; the current application's public hearing opened June 15 and, under Connecticut General Statute Section 8-7d, had to close by the 35-day mark, which fell at the July 20 meeting unless the applicant consented to a continuance to the August 17 meeting.

The question before the body: Whether to close the public hearing and approve the wetlands permit, the associated subdivision, and a contested bond and fee-waiver request, in time for the applicant's August 17 hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Substantive content: Engineer Frank Baca of BSC Group told the commission the development would subdivide the property into a 25.78-acre northern parcel and a 14.72-acre parcel for the housing project. Phase one calls for two apartment buildings on the existing parking footprint; a third building and a daycare facility are planned for a later phase two, which will require a separate permit application and subdivision. Wetlands Agent Peter Castaldi's staff report recommended 27 conditions of approval, including a regulated upland-review-area disturbance of 3.05 acres and vegetated-buffer-zone impacts capped at 1.35 acres, with a total project disturbance area of 4.56 acres. Castaldi's report found no direct wetland or watercourse impacts, noted a wetlands map amendment for the site was approved at the January 20 meeting, and said a vernal pool assessment identified two potential pools on the property but concluded neither qualifies as a true vernal pool. A new stormwater report showing no increase in peak flows was submitted and remains under review by the town engineer's office.

Attorney David Markowitz of Hassett and George, representing the applicant, asked the commission to waive condition six, a roughly $25,000 performance bond calculated under the town's standard $5,000-per-disturbed-acre formula, arguing the hit would be significant for a project sponsored by a church reliant on donations. He also asked to loosen condition 20 so BSC Group, rather than an independent consultant, could perform routine stormwater inspections, consistent with state general-permit rules allowing a project's own design engineer to inspect sites under 15 acres.

The deliberation: Castaldi said he had no strong opinion on the bond amount, noting the town had only recently raised its standard rate from $1,000 to $5,000 per acre. Budkofsky pressed on fairness grounds.

"If you're really nervous about the bond, I would ask that you consider reducing it to $1,000 per acre," Markowitz offered as a fallback, before Byron Lester formally moved a $2,500-per-acre compromise, seconded by Breland.

Kevin Wilcox said he supported consistency in bond policy: "I think consistency is important here. And if we start to do negotiated bonds, this will become a feature of every meeting." Budkofsky added that the bond's purpose, as Castaldi explained, covers "soil erosion and sediment control measures," restoration of disturbed areas and compliance with all conditions of approval, not merely tree replacement, which undercut Lester's argument that the project's lack of tree clearing justified a lower bond.

Separately, resident Rosemary Williams, who lives at Wintonbury Place condominiums adjacent to the site, asked at length how construction and the proposed bioretention drainage system would affect runoff toward her property. Baca said perimeter erosion controls, including straw wattles and "choir logs," would direct construction-phase runoff toward the center of the site rather than toward her building, and that the completed building's flat roofs would route stormwater through internal drains into the same wetland system that currently receives flow, but at a reduced volume. Castaldi added that wetland areas between the two properties would have to fill substantially before any flow could reach Williams's property, limiting her exposure to extreme storm events.

Procedural steps and outcome: Members voted unanimously to close the public hearing. Shipman moved, with Wilcox seconding, to approve the two-lot subdivision based on a survey-certified map titled "Subdivision Map Bloomfield First Cathedral Master Plan and Housing," dated April 2026; it passed unanimously. On the main permit motion, Lester's amendment to cut the bond rate to $2,500 per acre failed 2-4, with Lester and Breland in favor and Wilcox, Shipman, Ryczek and Budkofsky opposed. Wilcox then moved a separate amendment to condition 20, switching inspections from weekly to biweekly and allowing BSC Group rather than an independent third party to conduct them; it passed unanimously on a second by Breland. The main motion, approving the wetlands permit for Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc. with a waiver of the $2,760 application fee already paid under the withdrawn original application, passed unanimously as amended.

Implications and what is next: With wetlands approval secured, the applicant can proceed to its August 17 hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission, which Markowitz said the project depends on to stay on schedule. Phase two, covering the third building and daycare, will require a separate subdivision and wetlands application before construction can begin.

New Business: Duncaster Minor Modification

Castaldi asked to place a minor-modification request from Duncaster, a project the commission originally permitted in March 2024, on next month's agenda, saying it involves no change in regulated activities and likely does not need a public hearing. Byron Lester, a former Duncaster employee, recused himself from any future vote on the matter after a brief discussion of whether enough time had passed since his employment ended.

Wetland Agent Permits

Castaldi reported a new single-family house, well and septic at 68 Tariffville Road was approved with conditions and has no wetland impacts. A detached garage at 3 Partridge Lane and additions at 106 Springwood Lane remain under review in the upland review area only; Castaldi said he expects to approve both with conditions later in the week.

Enforcement Actions

69 Charter Avenue: Property owner Arthur Hardy, also associated with Diesel Transportation LLC (also known as Diesel Power LLC), had an outstanding notice of violation, which Castaldi's memo mistakenly listed as 95 Charter Avenue rather than the correct 69 Charter Avenue. Hardy submitted a survey and a soil scientist's restoration and planting plan for wetland disturbance on the adjacent, unimproved parcel known as 69 Central Avenue, satisfying all but one condition of the notice, a required site plan depicting ongoing operations and a permit application for that parcel. Byron Lester moved to lift the notice of violation and set a 90-day deadline, or the October 19, 2026 regular meeting, for Hardy to submit the outstanding site plan and wetlands permit application; the motion passed unanimously.

1236 Blue Hills Avenue: Castaldi disclosed a new enforcement matter against property owner Andy Morrison, who is already under a court order for separate planning violations. Castaldi said Morrison exceeded the clearing limits and limits of disturbance set in a 2021 wetlands permit by about six-tenths of an acre, or 27,000 square feet, clearing vegetation and dumping wood debris in both upland and wetland areas. Members discussed but took no vote; Castaldi recommended following the commission's three-step enforcement procedure, starting with a "friendly letter" rather than jumping to a cease-and-desist order, with a response deadline of August 7 ahead of the commission's August 17 meeting. Members also discussed whether Morrison's pending subdivision application before the Planning and Zoning Commission could proceed while a wetlands violation remains outstanding; Castaldi said there is "some debate" about whether that board can approve an application with an open wetlands violation.

Status of Ongoing Projects

Castaldi gave brief updates: final plans were submitted for a single-family house at 50 Burr Road; construction continues at 529 Cottage Grove Road and at a commercial strip development at 57 Jolly Drive; Abbey Court and Edith Lane condominium projects are both awaiting Metropolitan District Commission water and sewer approvals, expected in fall 2026 but possibly delayed to 2027; the Blue Hills Avenue senior housing project has three buildings under construction with good erosion-control practices; the Prosser Library project is substantially complete aside from some HVAC and site work; and a planned Popeyes restaurant near Geissler's has stalled, which Castaldi attributed to rumored financial trouble at the franchise company.

Approval of Minutes

Members approved the June 15, 2026 regular meeting minutes with several corrections, including fixing a typographical "on" to "one," clarifying that the 1151 Blue Hills Avenue site is protected by multiple existing conservation easements, removing a duplicated sentence fragment, and noting that a question about whether emergency vehicles can cross the site's timber bridge was never answered on the record. The June 24, 2026 special meeting minutes were approved as submitted. Both votes were unanimous.

Other Business and Public Comment

Members agreed to postpone a planned discussion of proposed regulations on vernal pools and riparian buffers to a future meeting so member David Laiuppa could participate. Resident Gail Riley attended but did not speak; members speculated without resolution about her reasons for attending. Discussion turned informally to a Simsbury development dispute involving a 689-unit affordable-housing project built under the state's 8-30g statute after that town rejected an earlier 200-unit proposal, a conversation Castaldi and members characterized as unrelated to any pending Bloomfield application. The meeting adjourned on a unanimous vote.

WHO WAS THERE

• Alan Budkofsky, Chairman, present
• Paul Shipman, Vice Chair, present
• Kevin Wilcox, Secretary, present
• Byron Lester, Member, present
• Glen Breland, Member, present
• Adam Ryczek, Member, present
• David Laiuppa, Member, absent
• Stephen Millette, Member, absent
• Peter Castaldi, Wetlands Agent, present
• Rebecca, staff (surname not given in sources), present
• David Markowitz, attorney with Hassett and George, representing applicant Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc.
• Frank Baca, professional engineer with BSC Group, representing the applicant's design team
• Marianne Campbell, project manager for Grow America, parent company of Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc.
• Rosemary Williams, resident of Wintonbury Place condominiums on Camelot Drive, public commenter on the 1151 Blue Hills Avenue application
• Arthur Hardy, property owner at 69 Charter Avenue, associated with Diesel Transportation LLC (also known as Diesel Power LLC), subject of enforcement action
• Andy Morrison, property owner at 1236 Blue Hills Avenue, subject of new enforcement action, did not attend
• Gail Riley, member of the public, attended without commenting

ORGANIZATIONS AND DOCUMENTS REFERENCED

• Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc.: applicant for the 1151 Blue Hills Avenue wetlands permit and subdivision
• First Baptist Church of Hartford: property owner of 1151 Blue Hills Avenue, referred to by participants as "First Cathedral"
• Grow America: national nonprofit community-development organization and parent company of Community Development Properties Bloomfield Inc.
• BSC Group: engineering firm representing the applicant, proposed to conduct ongoing stormwater inspections under amended condition 20
• Hassett and George: Simsbury-based law firm representing the applicant through attorney David Markowitz
• Metropolitan District Commission (MDC): regional water and sewer authority cited as the source of permitting delays for the Abbey Court and Edith Lane condominium projects
• Duncaster: continuing-care community whose 2024 wetlands permit is the subject of a pending minor-modification request
• Diesel Transportation LLC / Diesel Power LLC: entity associated with property owner Arthur Hardy at the 69 Charter Avenue enforcement site
• Connecticut General Statute Section 8-7d: cited by Wetlands Agent Peter Castaldi as governing the 35-day public hearing closure deadline for the 1151 Blue Hills Avenue application
• 2024 erosion and sedimentation control guidelines: state design standard cited by engineer Frank Baca for the project's sediment-trap and diversion-swale design
• Subdivision Map, "Bloomfield First Cathedral Master Plan and Housing," dated April 2026: surveyor-certified map cited as the basis for the subdivision approval motion
• 2021 wetlands permit: prior commission approval cited by Castaldi as the basis for the Andy Morrison enforcement action at 1236 Blue Hills Avenue
• January 20, 2026 commission meeting: cited as the date the original 1151 Blue Hills Avenue application was withdrawn and the date a related wetlands map amendment was approved