FARMINGTON — The developer of the Warren apartments on Farmington Avenue cut down trees on land it had set aside for conservation. No one asked the town first. "That is completely my responsibility," the company's president, Geoff Sager, told the town's Conservation Commission on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Then the commission approved the memorial trail the trees were cleared for.
Sager's company, Metro Realty Group, developed the Warren at 402 Farmington Ave. He said he kept reminding his project manager that he wanted the trail but neglected to say it had to go before the commission first. No work has been done since the town told the company it was in violation, he said.
The land is under a conservation easement, a restriction recorded on the town's land records that keeps it undeveloped. An exception in the easement, which Sager read to the commission, allows a footpath and a seating area, but only on a site plan approved by both the Conservation Commission and the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.
The company removed about 15 small trees, all under 7 inches across, and blew leaves off a strip of about 25 to 30 yards, all outside the wetlands, Sager said. He said nothing was graded, filled or dug, and no stumps were pulled.
The 450-foot trail would run south from the apartment building and then east, about 4 feet wide, to a bench on a small knoll overlooking the wetland. A small memorial plaque would go with the bench. No one at the meeting said whom the memorial honors. Sager said stone dust, the planned surface, is less likely than wood chips to wash out.
No one voted against the trail. The approval asks the developer to work with town staff during construction to keep disturbance to the land around it to a minimum. Commissioner Robert Isner called it "a positive project." Chair Ned Statchen said it would be used by townspeople and by people from the apartment complex.
The trail goes next to the Town Plan and Zoning Commission on Monday, Nov. 9.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has read the words "conservation easement" more times this week than he has refilled his mug, which is saying something. He is on his third coffee. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers Farmington from the records up: the trail beside the apartments, the plaque by the bench, the vote nobody opposed. We publish slowly, deliberately and without apology. Our motto is "Always last to breaking news," and we stand behind it. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell your neighbors. 📰