New Canaan's Planning and Zoning Commission braced Tuesday night for Round 3 of the battle over Jelliff Mill. Developers Judy Larson and Brian Gardiner explained their plans to convert the industrial building at 47 Jelliff Mill Road into an office building that resembles a colonial-era mill. Neighbors again expressed concerns, through their representative Pete Wray.
"I'm here to act as a traffic controller for the opposition," Wray said, "with very relevant new evidence." The opponents made new arguments about their two major quarrels: flood mitigation and traffic.
Joseph Rizzoli of Rizzoli Planning and Engineering spoke about problems with the flood plans, saying the proposal underestimated the amount of water that runs through the dam on Jelliff Mill Pond connected to the building.
Rob Frangione, the developers' engineer, said that because the mill does not sit on a flood plain, according to federal standards, flood mitigation should not be an issue. He also reminded the board that the Inland Wetlands Commission already granted Jelliff Mill LLC its license, although the neighbors are appealing the decision.
Wray spoke about issues with the developers' traffic study, saying it made errors about general traffic flow and in the distance of the site from the intersection of Jelliff Mill Road and Old Stamford Road. "The summary says everything is great, no problems," Wray said. "But when you look at the data, that's not the story."
Lawson and Gardiner agreed, at the board's request, to pay for an independent expert to sort through the traffic study.
The public hearing will continue at the board's next meeting in September. But Chairman Lazlo Papp said the commission will ask only for clarifications from both sides and will not hear new testimony. "I think we are now in a position to know what the main points are," Papp said.
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