Unsung Heroes: Environmental Review Teams Aid Municipalities

            Reviewing land-use proposals can present challenges to towns, requiring thorough knowledge of the land, its resources, and the probable effects of development. The growing number and complexity of the factors to be taken into account have made it difficult for local volunteer boards to assess the factors that should be considered in making decisions. Among these factors are the value of historic resources—buildings, districts, landscapes and archaeological resources, among other things.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection can help towns facing complex land use decisions through its Environmental Review Team program (ERT). This little-known program, which has been operating for 40 years, assists towns by performing environmental reviews of sites proposed for major land use activities or providing natural resource inventories to be used for land acquisition, master planning, or in anticipation of future development pressures.

The ERT draws professionals from a variety of federal, state, regional and local agencies to form multi-disciplinary study teams. Depending on the circumstances of each case, team members may come from DEP, the Office of State Archaeology, the State Historic Preservation Office, Conservation Districts, the Department of Transportation, Department of Health, Councils of Government, or other agencies as needed.

The information and analyses provided aim to assist both towns and developers in making environmentally sound decisions. ERT reports are not meant to compete with private consultants by supplying site designs or detailed solutions to development problems, but they do provide information about the existing resources and evaluate their significance with regard to proposed uses. Recommendations are given, but the report is non regulatory. All final decisions are left to the town and developer.

ERT Coordinator Elaine Sych says, “For historic resources, these reports can provide critical information to towns—identifying things that they weren’t aware of or helping them understand what these resources are. This can be particularly important where towns are planning a referendum about purchasing a property for open space or other uses.”

One such report concerned the Hewitt property in North Stonington, which was owned by Mystic Seaport. The town requested a natural resource inventory to assist in deciding whether to purchase the property and to provide an information base for managing it should an acquisition occur. Specific areas of concern included: aquifer protection, water quality and water supply, wildlife habitat and management, farmland preservation, recreation potential, and historic and archaeological significance.

            A team was assembled, including Nicholas Bellantoni, the State Archaeologist, and David Poirier, the Staff Archaeologist for the State Historic Preservation Office. The team collected information and then met at the site to verify information and to identify other resources. Team prepared individual reports, which were compiled into a final ERT report.

            On the property are several buildings of potential historic importance, including a house built in the 1740s, an early 20^th-century restaurant/diner, a long-vacant early 20^th-century house that had operated as a nursery school, and a small cabin. The Archaeological and Historical Review section of the report indicates whether or not each appears to be eligible for National Register listing, suggests possible treatments and uses, and indicates where additional information is needed to make a determination.

            The town did buy the Hewitt property and is currently using it for passive recreation, under the provisions of the original bequest to Mystic Seaport, which still apply. According to first selectman Nicholas H. Mullane, the ERT report helped the town make the decision to go ahead with the purchase. “North Stonington is a small town and our resources are limited. We never could have assembled all those specialists to work together as a team. As a municipality we should set an example of not damaging resources; the ERT provided us with information we needed to make an informed decision about this property. They really are unsung heroes.”

            There is no charge to towns for ERT studies. Instead, the program is funded (along with three other programs) through fees collected for land use permits at the local level and deposited in the DEP Conservation Fund. The funds provide for a full time coordinator, a part time assistant, office space, equipment, and the costs of field review and report preparation.

Like many state programs that have dedicated sources of revenue, the future of ERT funding is currently in question. Governor Rell has proposed diverting the land use fees to the general budget, and replacing ERT funding as a line item under DEP, where it is much more vulnerable to cuts. Supporters of ERT have urged the General Assembly to preserve the program’s dedicated revenue source.

For more information…

Connecticut Environmental Review Team Program: (860) 345-3977, http://www.ctert.org.