Possible Wetlands, Floodplain Encroachment On Newfield

The City served a Cease and Desist order on the owner of the Newfield Street Citgo station last week, after a nearby property owner noticed large numbers of dump trucks putting dirt into a low-lying area. Bruce E. Driska, the city's Zoning & Wetlands Enforcement Officer, and Matt Dodge, the city's environmental planner, determined that the land being filled was floodplain.

The owner of the property, Mohammed ("Sunny") Sohail, told The Eye that he plans to build a small shopping plaza, with two retail stores. He said the city told him that before he could do that, he needed a land survey and a report from a soil scientist, he said, "Basically more paperwork."

Middletown's zoning code mandates that any development within a floodplain requires a Floodplain Development Permit, the cease and desist order mandates that no further work be done on the site until this is obtained. Dodge told The Eye that if the soil scientist determines that there is wetlands-type soil, Sohail would need a permit from Inland Wetlands. If he does not receive a permit, he would be required to either restore the land already filled in, or mitigate by improving wetlands elsewhere.