Crematorium Applicant McLoughlin Slaps Lawsuit on Bethel P&Z and Bethel Business Owner

See copy of lawsuit and recap of crematorium controversy here.

 

Report by Paula Antolini
June 7, 2015 5:31PM EDT

 

Crematorium Applicant McLoughlin Slaps Lawsuit on Bethel P&Z and Bethel Business Owner

Since the last Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) crematorium hearing on May 12, 2015, the P&Z received a civil summons, eight pages long, from crematorium applicant (plaintiff) B. Shawn McLoughlin. McLoughlin, represented by Attorney Peter Olsen, owns Mono-crete Step Co. LLC, at 12 Trowbridge Drive, Bethel CT, the same property where he wants to build the crematory.  Also being sued is Gregory Marciano, owner of Connecticut Coining, the business next door to the proposed crematorium location at 10 Trowbridge Drive. Both are in Bethel’s Clarke Business Park, entrance is on Grassy Plain Street.

According to the Civil Summons in the Superior Court of the State Connecticut, plaintiff B. Shawn McLoughlin is seeking:

“1) The judgement of the Court reversing the decision of the Commission in directing the Commission to deny the Amendment Application and the Moratorium Application;
2) Restraining order staying the Commission’s decision on the Amendment Application and the Moratorium Application pursuant to General statutes §8-8(h);
3) Statutory costs and;
4) Such other relief as in law or equity may apply.”

The summons has a return date of June 23, 2015, for the P&Z and CT Coining to reply.

VIEW 8 PAGES OF THE SUMMONS at the bottom of this article.

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Before the lawsuit, Attorney Neil Marcus, representing Marciano, recently submitted a request to the P&Z for a crematorium moratorium and zoning amendment, which is an amendment to the zoning change (an amendment to the text amendment) that took place last year that allowed a crematorium in the Bethel IP Zone, when crematoriums were previously not permitted.

This request by Marcus to change that regulation back to what it was before the amendment, along with a one-year crematorium moratorium, was voted on and approved by the P&Z in a work session at the May 12, 2015 meeting. The vote was 4-3 with a stunning reversal of a vote by P&Z Chairman Pat Rist, who stated she “made a mistake” on the last text amendment vote regarding the crematorium zoning change approval.  Previously the vote was 4-3 in favor of the zoning change, with Rist’s vote in favor.  (See an upcoming detailed account of that meeting soon on Bethel Advocate. It will include Rist’s words, in full, of why she changed her vote, and emotional testimony from residents and business owners opposing the crematorium, in video.)

The crematorium moratorium and zoning change are now in effect from May 12, 2015 and the moratorium is applicable until May 12, 2016.  No additional applications for a crematorium can take place.

McLoughlin objects to these decisions and it is the basis of his lawsuit, even though the two decisions do not apply to the pending crematorium application. Also, a decision has not yet been reached by the Bethel Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z), on his present crematorium application for a site plan/special permit to construct a 5,000sf building, and a special permit for use as a crematory.

The upcoming Planning & Zoning Hearing concerning the crematorium will still take place this Tuesday, June 16, and is considered a separate issue, said Town Attorney Martin Lawlor, when questioned about this today. See legal notice here: http://www.bethel-ct.gov/filestorage/1190/83/10494/10545/2015-06-16n_public_hearing.pdf

The next P&Z hearing concerning the crematorium takes place this Tuesday, June 16, at 7:00 p.m. in the Denis Riordan Room D, in the Clifford J. Hurgin Municipal Center, 1 School Street, Bethel, CT.

Lawlor said another attorney will be appointed to specifically handle the P&Z/McLoughlin case, to be selected at the next Board of Selectman (BOS) meeting.  The next Board of Selectman (BOS) meeting is this Tuesday, June 16, 2015, and First Selectman Knickerbocker is on vacation June 5-16, 2015, so Selectman Richard Straiton will be acting First Selectman.  See vacation info. here: http://www.bethel-ct.gov/filestorage/1190/83/10494/10581/2015-06-05vacation.pdf

Please note that the wording in the P&Z meeting agenda and legal notices has changed from the past P&Z hearing agendas regarding the crematorium. Past hearings referred to the P&Z hearing the application of McLoughlin “for a site plan/special permit  to construct a 5,000sf building, and a special permit for use as a crematory as required by section 4.3(C) (10a); 4.2 (B) (2) and 4.2 (D) (1) of the zoning regulations”  See legal notice here: http://www.bethel-ct.gov/filestorage/1190/83/10494/10545/2015-04-14n_public_hearing_%28Crematory%29.pdf  Now it has changed to “for approval of a plot of land as a crematory Pursuant to Connecticut General Statute 19a-320(a)”  See legal notice here: http://www.bethel-ct.gov/filestorage/1190/83/10494/10545/2015-07-14n_public_hearing.pdf

So did McLoughlin change the request or is this an additional request?  It is an additional request, according to Land Use Director Steve Palmer.

It is known that the applicant had much difficulty getting approval on the special permit to construct a building for use as a crematory, as witnessed in several past P&Z hearings, hearings which are still continuing.  The controversy went on for nine months in 2014 and continued into 2015, into the sixth month now, for a total of fifteen months.

Early last year this controversy began when the P&Z approved a text amendment asked for by McLoughlin, regarding an IP Zoning change, that allowed a crematorium (previously not allowed) despite much opposition from residents and business owners.  Then the Economic Development Committee (EDC) was also against the crematorium and suddenly found themselves in a battle with the P&Z over who had priority over park regulations.  The EDC had been stewards of the park for thirty years successfully.  The EDC set the park rules to not allow crematoriums in the business park. The EDC was then ousted from power on December 29, 2015, in a “Special Town Meeting” held on the Monday between Christmas and New Year’s holiday, that hardly anyone knew about.  The notice was posted in a paper publication and buried pages deep on the town website.  Most individuals would not know how to find that notice, and they would have to be monitoring meetings to even look for it.  The park rules then expired on January 15, 2015.  There are now no rules for the park. First Selectman Knickerbocker said, after the Dec. 29 meeting, that the P&Z oversees the park now.  This is the commission who first approved the zoning change that started all this.

Here is a short summary of what happened so far, just THIS year, 2015. 

1) After the site walk took place by the P&Z in January 2015 it was discovered that McLoughlin had numerous violations regarding his present business, Mono-crete Step Co. LLC, a cement products company, located on the same property where he wants to build the crematorium.  He did not have a certificate of Occupancy for Mono-crete Step Co. LLC for the fifteen year he owned and operated that business.  He had also made some site modifications that did not conform to the original plan. Because of this, McLoughlin’s first application for a site plan/special permit to construct a 5,000sf building, and a special permit for use as a crematory was withdrawn in January 2015.

2) McLoughlin corrected the violations and submitted a second application for a site plan/special permit to construct a 5,000sf building, and a special permit for use as a crematory on February 25, 2015, and the application is currently pending.

3) In the P&Z hearings that have taken place since then for a site plan/special permit to construct a 5,000sf building, and a special permit for use as a crematory, on April 14, April 28, and May 12, 2015, Neil Marcus, the attorney representing Greg Marciano owner of CT Coining, found numerous violations in the building plan.  Examples of violations were distance too close to a residence and retaining wall heights that were “against the P&Z’s own regulations,” attorney Marcus told the P&Z.  The walls are considered a building themselves, if over a certain height, Marcus said, as he discussed even more violations.

4) Attorney Olsen indicated they would make changes in the crematorium building plan to conform to regulations so he said they would provide a plan that shows the building split in two, in order to get approval, even though it cost them more to do that.  This would also involve constructing two “loading areas” driveways  instead of one, he said, among other changes mentioned. A new engineer’s drawing has not yet been received and hearing dates keep getting moved forward upon request of Olsen.

5) As the clock is now ticking to get this application approved in 65 days, attorney Olsen, representing crematorium applicant McLoughlin, asked for more time for his client McLoughlin. In a letter to the P&Z Chairman Pat Rist, dated May 21, 2015, the letter reads as follows:

May 21, 2015

Patricia A. Rist
Chair, Planning & Zoning Commission of the Town of Bethel
Clifford J. Hurgin Municipal Center
1 School Street
Bethel, CT 06801

Land Use & Conservation Counsel

RE: B. Shawn McLoughlin and Mono-crete Step Co. of CT, LLC
Application for Site Plan, Special Permit, Excavation Permit, 12 Trowbridge Drive

Dear Pat:

This firm represents the applicants in the above-captioned applications and the owner of the subject property. We hereby request that the Commission continue the continued public hearing scheduled for May 26, 2015 to a special meeting in the week commencing June 15, 2015. The undersigned will be away on vacation the week of June 22, 2015.

The reason that we are requesting this continuance is to allow the applicant to obtain expert reports to respond to the Commission’s questions on two subjects: (a) the effect, or lack thereof, on adjacent properties and properties in the vicinity of the proposed use and (b) the nature and quantity of the emissions, or lack thereof, from the proposed use and the dissipation thereof. Both of these subjects require some time for our experts to prepare reports for the Commission’s review. We are hopeful that we can have them completed in time to present the week of June 15, 2015.

To accommodate this extension, pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-7d (a), we hereby grant an extension of the time to conduct a public hearing of 14 days, through and including June 23, 2015. This extension is calculated as follows:

Public Hearing Opened…..April 14, 2015
Initial Deadline to complete Public Hearing…..May 19, 2015
Initial Extension granted to June 9, 2015….. 21 days
Additional Extension granted to June 23, 2015…..14 days
Days remaining for potential extension…..30 days.

The deadline to close the public hearing, should all extensions be granted, would be July 23, 2015, and we are amenable to additional extensions as required. Should you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.

Sincerely yours,
Peter S. Olson PSO/sib

5) Now it seems there is yet another additional application submitted,“for approval of a plot of land as a crematory” as previously mentioned above.  It does not mention a building.

6) And now a lawsuit against the P&Z and CT Coining.

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Check back with Bethel Advocate for updates.  There is so much to this story we will be posting, including videos and resident and business owner testimony.

If you’d like to sign the petition opposing the crematorium, or to see the progress of this issue, click here:

tinyurl.com/nocrematorium

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VIEW PUBLIC RECORD OF SUMMONS BELOW

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Pages 1 to 8:

(Click image to view larger then click again on next page.)

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 1:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 2:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 3:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 4:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 5:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 6:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 7:

State of Connecticut Superior Court / Danbury / Summons – Civil / Page 8:

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Photo: Mitch Gross (photo at top of article, upper left) uses charts and maps detailing negative facts about having a crematorium in a town, based on a professional study, during his presentation to the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) on May 12, 2015 to oppose the crematorium. Gross is the owner of a commercial property at 13 Trowbridge Drive in Clarke Business park in Bethel, CT,  across the street from the proposed crematorium site, that he recently purchased this year but was not told about the proposed crematorium before purchase.  He was planning on moving his high end antique classic car company to Bethel. He, and other business owners, now plan on selling if the crematorium is approved.  Some have already out their properties up for sale, such as Mr. Johnny Choi, who owns Soho Designs and three other properties, all up for sale. Choi’s businesses would have provided many jobs and now will mean a loss of $41,000 in revenue for Bethel if he leaves. Other photos show some of the individuals (not all) who opposed the crematorium and gave comments at the P&Z meeting. (Click on images to view larger, then again on next page to enlarge again.)