Wetlands commission passes new regulations

SALISBURY — The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission voted to approve a long-awaited revision of its regulations after a brief public hearing on May 12.

Introducing the new regulations draft at the start of the hearing, Land Use Administrator Abby Conroy outlined the history of the IWWC, which began with the adoption of the Connecticut Inland Wetland and Watercourses Act in 1972, after which Salisbury created the Conservation Commission to enact the duties required under that statute.

Conroy explained that one of the major motivations to change the regulations was to reflect the IWWC’s separate “statutory responsibilities” from the Conservation Commission since the two were separated in 2020. The current regulations, which date to 2006, “still reflect the Conservation Commission as the entity responsible for the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Act,” she said.

As outlined in the motion that passed May 12, the major objectives in changing the regulations were to “reflect a new Agency name, align with legislative updates, address concerns that the current upland review area does not adequately protect sensitive resources, remedy inconsistent and unclear terms, and to adopt a more user-friendly fee schedule.”

Altering the upland review area — the area near a wetland or waterbody in which development or construction activities may require review from the IWWC — is one of the more significant changes detailed in the revision, and has incited disagreement between the Commission, lakeshore property owners and the various lake associations in town, such as the Twin Lakes Association and the Lake Wononscopomuc Association.

Conroy said that Salisbury’s unique topography and relative lack of development have made the town a haven for many types of wetlands and watercourses, as well as the unique ecosystems and threatened and endangered species that call them home. As a result, she explained, the IWWC developed a “resource-based approach” which establishes different upland review areas for different types of wetlands or waterbodies, while the current regulations set a universal 75-foot upland review area.

Sensitive wetland habitats, such as fens or vernal pools for example, are given a 300-foot upland review area in the new regulations. “They really are unique resources to themselves; each one is facing different pressures and threats,” Conroy said.

The upland review area remains 75 feet for each named lake — Wononscopomuc, Wononkapook, Washining and Washinee — though Chair Vivian Garfein clarified that these numbers are not set in stone.

Should any lake association wish to alter its own number, she explained, it may petition to do so at a later date through a straightforward process.

A raised bill at the current legislative session in Hartford, known as House Bill 7174, has caused concern among residents and commissioners as to the future jurisdictional power of the IWWC. If passed, the new bill would require a minimum 100-foot buffer adjacent to any wetland or watercourse, which would “completely [change] the ballgame as far as jurisdiction goes,” explained Conroy at the IWWC’s April 14 meeting, a month before the hearing. That aspect of the law is scheduled to take effect on July 1 if approved, the same day the new IWWC regulations are set to be adopted.

At that same meeting, Garfein said that the Commission will just have to wait and see regarding the bill, which is currently awaiting House and Senate vote.