Landowner Wants To Start Fish Farm

SHARON — Sharon landowner Michael Rost feels he is being denied the right to develop his land as he sees fit.

The land in question is a parcel at 172A Mudge Pond Road, and the subject of controversy.

Rost said he has owned the property since 1998, and sent in his initial application in May 2006.

Rost’s plans include an organic fish farm for the property. He said he is "affiliated" with fish farmers in Pennsylvania and has contacts in the industry. He mentioned trout and bass as species he’d like to cultivate, for consumption purposes.

He is also investigating the possibility of raising flowers.

But what gets Rost riled up is the actions of the town, particularly the Inland Wetlands Commission, in regard to his application.

"The town has been quite biased," he said. "They don’t want me to develop it.

"You have to ask, do they have a right to tell me I can’t develop my property?"

Rost also wants to build a house and a barn. He said the lot was approved for building in 1989.

"It met all their guidelines, for the septic and everything, back then."

He is not reticent in expressing his opinion of the Inland Wetlands Commission, claiming that Chairman Ed Kirby called him "the biggest violator in town."

"These guys are rude," he complained. "Read the minutes. They try to intimidate."

Rost said the delays are costing him money and causing problems at home.

The commission’s hearing on Thursday, Jan. 18, should be action-packed. Rost has enlisted the legal services of the Connecticut Farm Bureau and will have an attorney from that organization.

"The town has been arbitrary and capricious," he said. "But I’ve got the Farm Bureau on my side."

Kirby said Tuesday that the hearing is Rost’s chance to demonstrate why the cease-and-desist order should be lifted. He added that there is no mention of any agricultural project on Rost’s application, which is for a house and septic system.

As to Rost’s characterization of the commission’s past actions, Kirby said, "Fine."

The Sharon Lake Association has circulated a report by a limnologist, or lakes expert, identifying the property as problematic in terms of development. It has also sent around an accompanying petition to halt Rost’s plans.

The report concludes that "with careful, controlled development it may be possible to improve and stabilize this environmentally challenged site," but identifies several causes for concern, including the existence of an old dump; the effect on the quality of the water flowing into Mudge Pond, particularly that of Spring Brook; and the possibility of endangered, threatened or "special concern" species in the area.

The report also advises that some of Rost’s activities to date, including excavation and the transportation to the site of bluestone rock, might require remediation or removal.

These were the actions that caused Inland Wetlands to find Rost in violation in the first place.

Another twist in the story involves the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe, the smaller of the two Schaghticoke groups vying for Federal recognition. Rost said his fish farm would employ members of the SIT.

"I asked the [SIT] council before anybody else," he said.

Rost’s recent encounters with officialdom have not been satisfactory from his point of view. In addition to his ongoing discussion with Inland Wetlands, he asked the Board of Selectmen for permission to move, with his family, to a trailer at the Mudge Pond site, which the selectmen refused in December.

The hearing is Thursday, Jan. 18, 7 p.m. at Town Hall.