Danbury commission hears site plan for 120,000‑sq‑ft building at Berkshire Corporate Park, tables decision to Aug. 12

The Danbury Environmental Impact Commission on July 22 heard a presentation on a proposed 120,000‑square‑foot building at 1270 Riverview Drive in the Berkshire Corporate Park and tabled the application to the commission’s next regular meeting on Aug. 12 for further review.

Greg Steiner, representing the applicant, described the corporate park’s development history and said the project would bring a tenant that intends to move manufacturing and headquarters operations into Danbury. Engineer Steve Sullivan of Haley Ward Incorporated presented the site plan, describing an approximately 18.4‑acre parcel with connections to existing municipal water and sewer, roughly 219 parking spaces, and use of previously roughed‑in driveway and parking subgrades.

Sullivan said the proposal avoids direct wetland disturbance and quantified the regulated activity as about 0.084 acres (approximately 3,600 square feet). He said impervious cover would increase by about 0.19 acres compared with the earlier plan and that the design relies on existing drainage infrastructure — two detention basins built years ago — plus a supplemental detention basin to attenuate peak flows. “This supplemental basin is gonna lower the peak flow to those basins,” Sullivan said, noting the proposed peak flow (17.2 cubic feet per second) is lower than the earlier 2000 plan (28.06 cfs).

Jim McManus of JMM Wetland Consulting summarized a March wetlands delineation and a functionality assessment. McManus said the northeastern wetlands are forested but historically disturbed and contain invasive species. “I did do a functionality assessment, and I found… the wetland has one principal function, which is groundwater discharge and recharge,” McManus said, and added that with proper erosion controls and monitoring he did not anticipate long‑term water‑quality impacts from the project.

Commissioners questioned invasive‑species handling, downstream impacts and parking. One commissioner asked what species were present; McManus and the applicant identified common reed (phragmites), Asiatic bittersweet, multiflora rose and other invasive shrubs, and said they would remove roots where practical and arrange for off‑site disposal rather than on‑site composting. Commissioners also pressed the team on whether the level spreader and vegetated buffers would protect downstream resources including the Still River; McManus said the assessment considered off‑site effects and the applicant agreed to additional plantings per a staff memo.

The commission also discussed parking and construction details: the applicant said the tenant requested the larger parking count based on projected needs, that the building is slab‑on‑grade for most of its footprint, and that limited additional blasting and cut might be required to achieve finished floor elevations given prior subgrading.

After the presentation and questions, a commissioner moved to table regulated activity 1270 Riverview Drive to the next regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 12; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The commission did not take final action on the application at the July 22 meeting; commissioners requested further review and plan revisions addressing landscaping/planting recommendations and invasive‑species disposal, and the item will return to the Aug. 12 agenda.