CAC talks shop, or shopping market, that is

NORTH EAST — At the Town Board’s June business meeting the North East Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) submitted a copy of a report it previously drafted for the Planning Board regarding a proposed supermarket. Southern Realty & Development, LLC, is the applicant behind the proposal for a 36,000-square foot, as-of-yet unnamed supermarket planned behind the existing Thompson Plaza, off Route 44, in the town’s Boulevard District. The 10-acre site is owned by Quinmill Properties Inc., and could ultimately include a plaza, along with a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Subway, if Thompson Plaza owner Ken Thompson has his way.At the June 9 Town Board meeting, the submission from CAC Chairwoman Dianne Engleke was reviewed. The report opened by stating the CAC considers the building “very large for the site and too close to the wetland.”The wetland is a concern, not only for water quality issues but also as a potential home to the endangered bog turtle. Engineers for the developer are conducting a bog turtle study to ensure there are no specimens in the area. As far as other wetland concerns, the CAC also addressed those with the following statement:“We strongly suggest an inventory of the wetland’s plants, animals and habitats, as well as water testing at numerous points in the wetland. This water testing should be ongoing,” according to Engleke’s report. She added that nobody personally knows the health of the particular wetland in question, as it’s only been viewed from the road and studied via aerial maps. “There is consensus that the wetlands contain a good variety of plants and habitats, including several fens which are also documented in the Hudsonia study published in 2008.”That study states fens are “highly vulnerable to degradation from direct disturbance and from activities in nearby upland areas. Nutrient and salt pollution from septic systems, fertilizers or road runoff, disruption or groundwater flow by new wells or excavation, sedimentation from construction activity or direct physical disturbance ...”The CAC, therefore, advised caution. It also questioned if the developer would consider a smaller building, possibly repositioned, with more road frontage.Some specific concerns, according to the CAC, include:• The development immediately abuts the 100-foot wetland buffer in a number of areas• During the winter salt used to maintain the parking area would flow into the wetland• Wells and a septic system will be required. There will likely be food preparation on site, from which grease “should go into separate waste system, protecting the functioning of the septic system.”• Impermeable surfaces could be damaging, and permeable paving material might be more beneficial in areas abutting the wetland and reduce storm water runoff. Pollution would still exist, but the rate of it flowing into the wetland would be slower.Lastly, Engleke mentioned that a healthy wetland is home to a healthy ecosystem that takes care of its own — with predators eating mosquito larva and dealing with dangerous issues like West Nile Disease. She even referred to a study in Massachusetts were a mosquito population dropped by 90 percent in one “healthy” wetland.“A healthy neighbor is a good neighbor,” she wrote at the end of her report.” While the report was merely to update the Town Board on the CAC’s activities, along with those of the Planning Board, the information is also ideally intended to make the town’s leaders more informed decision-makers in the future.