Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

The Fort Trumbull Conservancy, a coalition of New London taxpayers and residents seeking to limit development of the 90-acre peninsula on which the historic fort sits, was dealt a setback by the state Supreme Court Tuesday. The court ruled unanimously that coastal site plan reviews, required by state law for any construction planned within 1,000 feet of Long Island Sound, may not be appealed if they are part of a larger review performed in connection with a municipal or state project. The court also ruled that the granting of intervenor status to the conservancy for the purpose of challenging the environmental effect of proposed roads and a river walkway on the pennisula, did not confer on the nonprofit agency the right to appeal. The coastal site plan review of the roads and walkway the city of New London proposed in 2001 was prepared for the planning and zoning commission, which then recommended approval of the projects to the city council. "Coastal site plan review does not result in a separate approval or decision," Justice Christine S. Vertefeuille wrote. The court noted that the planning and zoning commission's approval of both projects - the roadways and the river walkway - were nonbinding recommendations to the city council and "not appealable final decisions." The Supreme Court has yet to decide the more publicized and controversial issue of whether the city of New London can take, by eminent domain, a few homes on the peninsula in the name of economic development. That case was argued last December. Development plans for the peninsula, anchored at one end by a research and development center recently opened by pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer Inc., include a hotel, condominiums and a marina. The constitutional battle pits the rights of homeowners against the emphasis the legislature has placed on economic development, particularly in financially distressed cities such as New London. Attorney Scott Sawyer, who argued the environmental challenge on behalf of the Fort Trumbull Conservancy, said the development in general "isn't necessarily all bad." "The goal is not to halt the development, but to cause the people in charge of the development to be more environmentally responsible," Sawyer said. "The development they're proposing is cutting off just about all future water-dependent uses." The environmental concerns focus largely on marine and wildlife ecosystems. Attorney Thomas Londregan, who represents the city, said a ruling in favor of the Fort Trumbull Conservancy would have stymied road construction and other municipal improvements throughout the state's coastal communities. "This is one of the most fundamental things municipalities do - they build roads, they build sidewalks," Londregan said. "If [the conservancy members] were correct, every municipality along the coast that wanted to build a road or a sidewalk would be subjected to some neighborhood or environmental group taking an appeal to the Superior Court."