OLD LYME — The Old Lyme Conservation and Open Space Commissions are sponsoring an informative talk about beavers at the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Master Wildlife Conservationist Ginny Apple will illustrate how eager beavers re-shape our landscapes and create wildlife-rich ecosystems that protect aquifers and combat erosion.
After being hunted and trapped to near local extinction, beavers are returning to favorable locales in Old Lyme and across Connecticut. Their activity can unfortunately cause serious flooding problems, but conflict-resolving options exist.
Apple presents over 100 talks a year on Connecticut’s wildlife and has enjoyed a long career in communication. She is the current chair of Barkhamsted’s Conservation Commission, and serves on various environmental boards, including the Farmington River Watershed Association, the Litchfield Hills Audubon Society and the Northwoods Land Conservancy.
OLD LYME—The Old Lyme Land Trust, the Old Lyme Open Space Commission and the Old Lyme Inn are sponsoring another “Hiker’s Happy Hour” on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
A guided walk will leave at 4:15 p.m. from the Mile Creek Preserve trailhead at 191 Mile Creek Road. All are welcome.
After the hike, people will re-group at the nearby Old Lyme Inn for half-price drinks from 5 to 6 p.m. You need not hike to enjoy the Happy Hour.
Hikers should wear comfortable walking shoes and bring insect repellent.
In the event of rain, meet at the Old Lyme Inn for Happy Hour instead of the trailhead.Information on the Bartholomew Open Space can be found here.
Hikers donned sunglasses and walking sticks for a trek through the McCulloch Family Open Space this past weekend. The ‘Hiker’s Happy Hour,’ a venture of the Old Lyme Open Space Commission and Old Lyme Land Trust, was the first of the season. Photo courtesy of the Old Lyme Land Trust.
Hikers Explore Area Earmarked for Construction, Hike Precedes ‘Happy Hour’ at Old Lyme Inn
OLD LYME–On May 7, a group of local residents gathered for the first hike of the season organized by the Old Lyme Open Space Commission and Old Lyme Land Trust. For many of the walkers, the hike through the McCulloch Family Open Space was their first time visiting the property off Flat Rock Hill Rd. in Old Lyme.
The hike preceded what the hike’s lead organizer Andrea Fenton described as, “a delightful Happy Hour at the Old Lyme Inn.” She emphasized that all are welcome to join these combination hikes and ‘Happy Hours,’ which are organized on a regular basis, stressing that you do not actually need to take the hike in order to enjoy the ‘Happy Hour!’
Affordable Homes Move Closer to Reality
The new, red path that the hikers followed loops around two Affordable Housing lots, which were designated in the original transfer of the property. The process of turning these six acres of the 300-acre McCulloch Family Open Space property into two affordable, single-family homes is moving closer to reality as part of a joint effort between the town and Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut.
The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on Thursday is set for a public hearing on a request from the Old Lyme Affordable Housing Commission that would allow the two proposed houses to share a driveway with two existing houses on Flat Rock Hill Road.
The town in 2019 closed on the purchase of approximately 300 acres from the McCulloch family to be preserved in perpetuity. The sale set aside two parcels, totaling about six acres, for the construction of affordable homes. Voters last year authorized the transfer of the land from the town to Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut, which will build and manage one single-family house on each parcel.
Variance NeededBefore Construction Can Begin
A variance to zoning regulations must be granted before the town can move forward with a plan to bring in Habitat for Humanity to start construction, according to Affordable Housing Commission meeting minutes.
Old Lyme Land Use Coordinator Eric Knapp on Monday said about six acres of land at 130-1 Whippoorwill Road, which were deeded to the town by the McCulloch family for the construction of affordable homes, do not have any direct road frontage.
“So we’re trying to subdivide them out, but can’t without a variance,” he said.
Old Lyme Land Trust member Andrea Fenton said many of the hikers at the inaugural Hikers’ Happy Hour were visiting the property for the first time. Photo courtesy of the Old Lyme Land Trust.
The town’s zoning regulations require 25 feet of road frontage per lot to qualify for subdivision.
The land has deeded rights to a 50-foot wide driveway off Flat Rock Hill Road, according to the ZBA application.
“It’s kind of a unique situation, and that’s what the ZBA is there for,” Knapp said.
State law grants the ZBA the power to grant variances if existing regulations create “exceptional difficulty or unusual hardship” when it comes to using the property.
The other two houses that would share the driveway are on land owned by the nonprofit HOPE Partnership, according to assessor’s records. The houses that sit on the land – built in the 1990s by the Old Lyme Affordable Housing Corp before it merged with HOPE – are sold to low-income households using a community land trust model. The framework limits the profit owners can make if they decide to sell their homes.
The town paid $500,000 for what is now the McCulloch Family Open Space, and $50,000 each for two three-acre areas off Flat Rock Hill Rd. The Affordable Housing Commission in 2022 received a $150,000 grant from the town using federal pandemic-relief funds to reimburse the town for the original purchase price.
But the deed transfer from the town to Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut is pending the creation of a steering committee to guide the process, April Affordable Housing Commission meeting minutes stated. The committee will be formed once variance is granted by the ZBA.
The view from Horseneck Creek Landing. File photo.
Old Lyme Selectmen to Meet at 11am to Continue Discussion, Intent was to Send Ordinance to May 19 Town Meetingfor Approval
OLD LYME–A jurisdictional dispute over management of the Horseneck Creek Landing has resurfaced in the form of “last-minute” language inserted into a draft Harbor Management Commission Ordinance, according to Selectman Jim Lampos.
Selectmen at Monday’s Old Lyme Board of Selectmen meeting decided to reconvene on Wednesday, May 7, at 11 a.m. to discuss the draft ordinance, which is one of several updates to the local law book that selectmen hope to send to voters at the May 19 Town Budget Meeting.
Lampos on Monday objected to new language approved by the Harbor Management Commission last week, after he said the original draft produced by Harbor Master Matthew Lynch had been vetted by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the town attorney.
The new provisions are meant to codify the Harbor Management Commission’s authority over town-owned waterfront parcels including Horseneck Creek Landing.
Lampos said the language was added to the draft a day before the Harbor Management Commission held a special meeting last Wednesday to vote on the Ordinance change.
“And Harbor Master Lynch confirmed that these did not come from DEEP or from him, but were last minute additions,” he said.
Harbor Management Commission Co-Chair Teri Lewis in a Tuesday phone call said there were two separate parts to the ordinance update. One was the harbor master’s effort to create rules and an enforcement mechanism to control swimmers and jet skiers better at Sound View Beach, and the other was a commission effort to name all the town landings within the commission’s oversight.
Horseneck Creek Landing at 36-1 Buttonball Road was the subject of a dispute between the Open Space Commission and Harbor Management Commission several years back. The controversy revolved around how much access the public should have to the water on the environmentally delicate property, as well as who was responsible for it. The issue seemed to be resolved in 2023 by the now disbanded 36-1 Buttonball Road Committee and the Board of Selectmen through an agreement for the two entities to work together to manage the property.
The Harbor Management Commission is currently working to install a dock there.
But Lampos argued most of the provisions regarding the town landings aren’t about mooring or regulating boating activity.
“They have to do solely with controlling the waterfront parcels associated with upland parking facilities and other supporting features,” he said.
The language would give Harbor Management authority over mowing, parking areas, removal and control of vegetation, and “other improvements deemed necessary by the commission.”
The draft ordinance states that town-owned parcels subject to Harbor Management Commission oversight “shall include, but are not limited to” several specified properties in addition to Horseneck Creek Landing: the town dock at Ferry Road, the Ferry Road Landing at the Lieutenant River, the landing for Back River at Town Landing Road, Old Bridge Landing at the Lieutenant River and Pilgrims Landing on Neck Road.
Included in the list is “any other property that the Town may acquire through purchase or donation that is specifically for use as a water access point” to tidal waters.
Lewis said Tantummaheag Landing was not on the list because its ownership is in dispute.
She emphasized the language is a way to place the inventory of town landings in writing officially.
“We’re just naming Horseneck Creek as one of our access creeks,” she said. “We are still sharing and will always still share Horseneck Creek. We have no plans on taking over Horseneck Creek.”
She said the commission has been working to publicize the collection of town landings. Members are working on fliers to give out at the Midsummer Festival and maps to mail to residents to make sure people are aware the landings are available to the public.
“Because nobody knows,” she said.
She acknowledged the language related to the landings and their oversight needs approval from the DEEP and the Town Attorney, which she hoped could be completed next week. She was unaware that selectmen said they needed to vote on the ordinance by this Wednesday to ensure notice of the Town Meeting could be placed into the newspaper in time.
Open Space Commission Chairman Gregory Futoma in a Monday afternoon email to First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker described the three-acre Horseneck Creek property as “an outlier” compared to the rest of the town landings specified in the ordinance proposal.
He said the other properties are “uniformly smaller and without pristine coastal forest or extensive marshland.”
Lampos told selectmen the jurisdictional issue was too big to address in time to send the Harbor Management Commission-approved draft ordinance to the town meeting later this month. He called for selectmen to instead approve the initial draft approved by town counsel without the additional provisions.
“Some of these issues are going to be controversial and create jurisdictional disputes where none currently exist,” Lampos said.
Open Space Commission
Futoma in a Monday email to Lampos said his commission was not consulted regarding the proposed revisions that were sent to him by Lampos shortly before the selectmen’s meeting.
Futoma requested time to share the amended draft ordinance with the commission.
He said the commission has abided by the sentiments expressed by the former 36-1 Buttonball Road Committee and the Board of Selectmen that the town’s Horseneck Creek Landing property be co-managed.
“The Commission believes it has brought to the property amenities for visitors that would not otherwise be available. For example, the Commission sought and received a grant to highlight the unique coastal forest and tidal marsh features of the property, worked with experts from UConn and Audubon, and prepared some exceptional educational materials,” he said.
He said the commission has reached out to the Harbor Management Commission about each new program “out of a spirit of cooperation and to ensure that nothing might jeopardize the Town’s application for a dock and water access.”
Sound View Commission
Sound View Commission Chairman Frank Pappalardo in a Monday email to the Board of Selectmen said the revised draft is “unacceptable and must not be moved forward.”
He said his commission reviewed the original draft at the end of April. They issued a memo to Lynch and the Harbor Management Commission agreeing to most of the proposed changes that he said would provide needed management and enforcement assistance when it comes to swimmers and jet skiers at Sound View Beach.
“It was therefore a complete surprise on Friday, May 2 to see a copy of the proposed ordinance containing several entirely new sections…that far exceeds any previous Harbor Management Commission jurisdiction and is a far over-reach from overseeing boating and moorings,” Pappalardo said.
He said the Harbor Management Commission “cannot just assign themselves jurisdictional control” over areas currently managed through agencies including the Parks and Recreation, Open Space and Sound View commissions.
“I find it disingenuous that these sections of the proposed ordinance were NOT included in the draft sent to the SVC for review and the Chair of the Harbor Management Commission made no statement regarding their existence,” he said.
Lewis, the Harbor Management Commission co-chair, said the language related to the town landings has nothing to do with the Sound View Commission.
“We have no interest whatsoever in managing Sound View Beach or managing the town parking lot,” she said.
Selectmen on Wednesday at 11 a.m. will also discuss draft ordinances on parking at Sound View Beach and golf cart usage in beach areas. Visit this link to view the agenda for the meeting.
The meeting, which will be held in the Town Hall meeting room, can be accessed via Microsoft Teams here.
