SerpApi.Org
DANBURY – A large industrial building in the city’s portion of a 300-acre corporate park that stretches into Bethel and Brookfield is being pitched just north of two residential neighborhoods on the east end.
The project at the Berkshire Corporate Park would add a large 120,000-square-foot building with 219 parking spaces to Danbury’s industrial base. It would also be on top of two neighborhoods of single-family homes on Sunrise Road and Pocono Lane.
Because part of a parking lot would be built in the protected buffer of a stream, the corporate park’s owner needs permission from the city’s environmental watchdogs, who plan to review the proposal on Wednesday.
“This 18.3-acre parcel is currently undeveloped with mainly open areas, gravel/dirt access drives, man-made detention basins, scattered trees and shrubs,” reads report by James McManus, a wetlands consultant working for the corporate park owner. “(F)orested upland and wetlands areas … include intermittent watercourses.”
The site in question, across Route 7 from Stew Leonard’s, has already seen tree clearing and infrastructure improvements, because the city’s wetlands commission approved a three-story building there in 2000.
That approval has run out, and new engineering reports about storm water runoff and wetlands protection need to be vetted.
“Due to the changing market conditions of Connecticut, this building was never built,” reads an application signed by Greg Steiner, owner of the corporate park. He estimated the building could be complete in 18 months, depending on approvals.
The proposed building, which would be used for manufacturing and other light industries, is the latest development for a 1 million-square-foot corporate park that was once home to Duracell’s “gorgeous former world headquarters” in Bethel’s portion.
Duracell’s 300,000-square-foot building, which once housed 1,000 workers on 43 acres was down to 20 researchers in March, leaving Bethel planners to ask if the best future for the building is a mix of commerce and apartments.
The parking lot for the proposed industrial building in Danbury would affect less than one-tenth of an acre of the protected wetlands buffer, according to the application.
“The development meets the design criteria and provides a comprehensive stormwater management plan that incorporates best management practices to reduce impacts and protect the environment,” reads 70-page drainage report by a corporate park consultant. “(T)hrough implementation of the recommended engineered stormwater management system and periodic maintenance, the proposed development will not adversely impact the downstream areas.”
The Still River runs south of the corporate park and crosses Route 7, where the river turns north.
In addition to approval by environmental watchdogs, the project needs to pass review by the city’s professional planning department.
