Bristol Village builder addresses wetlands application for Perkins Street property abutting dog park, Hoppers

Todd Clark, of Clark Land Surveying, reviews plans for a housing development between Perkins Street and the City of Bristol Dog Park. | David Fortier

Posted By: David Fortier July 10, 2024

By David Fortier

The principal in an LLC that plans on developing land abutting the City of Bristol Dog Park and Hoppers-Birge Pond area is focusing on their wetlands application that has come before the Inlands Wetlands and Watercourse Commission.

At the same time, the application for P & B Properties LLC for its Bristol Village open space development includes a proposal for 16 single-family homes on almost 11 acres between the dog park and Perkins Street.

“We have to get access to our property,” said Tim Bobroske, a builder and one of two partners that comprise P & B Properties. “To get access on the property through the regulations of Bristol inland- wetlands, we have to cross a brook and we have to show how we are crossing that brook.”

Bobroske and Todd Clark, of Clark Land Surveying who is working on the project, talked with TBE Tuesday afternoon at Clark’s offices on Lake Avenue. Bobroske’s P & B Properties partner is Jim Pryor. He was not at the meeting.

Friends of the Hoppers-Birge Pond Preserve have been watching the progress of the plan and are meeting this evening at the Bristol Historical Society to discuss the environmental impact, including on rare geological formations leftover from the Ice Age that are in the proposed development.

These formations, kettle holes, are not considered wetlands, so are not considered by Bristol’s Inlands Wetlands and Watercourses Commission when deciding applications.

There are two areas in the application that are considered wetlands on Bristol’s inlands-wetlands map. The first is a brook and the second is hilltop property on the southside, the latter of which is problematical and may not fit a wetlands designation any longer.

“It’s not wetlands itself,” Bobroske said about the second area, “it’s not wetlands soils, but it is a regulated area.”

This area was not included on the first application, which was amended to acknowledge the discrepancy, Bobroske said. The clarification was requested by the inland wetlands commission at its July 1 meeting when the application was presented by local attorney Tim Furey of Furey, Donovan, Cooney & Dyer.

“When they do schedule the site walk and walk up here, they will see it’s not wetlands,” Clark said.

The application will come before the board again early in August, possibly at the next meeting of the commission, when the board will request further amendments or proceed to a public hearing.

While this application deals directly with the construction of a bridge over the brook, Bobroske said he decided to provide, in the application, a glimpse of the broader proposal, which, he qualified, is subject to change.

“We want to be transparent,” Bobroske said. “We wanted to show this is the way it is. We have a really good idea for a really exceptional sub-division in Bristol.”

The next phase of the project would deal with kettle holes and other issues, he added. He acknowledged, and it is apparent from details provided in the application, that in the future there will be a significant sand and gravel removal operation. The plans can be found by clicking here.

The planning for the bridge involved coming up with multiple designs before settling on the one that was submitted in the application. Its installation will occur over four stages to counter soil erosion and provide stability for the environment.

“We have a report from an environmental scientist, we have a report from a soil scientist, we have a report from an engineer, we have a report from a storm water engineer, we have a report from a structural engineer for the bridge,” Bobroske said.

“I can’t stress enough that we aren’t asking for anything except what the city of Bristol allows in their regulations,” he said, “and that is all online also.”

The bridge design incorporates pilings which are less intrusive than concrete footings, Clark said. The bridge also allows for a wider border than is required for clearing the brook. Regulations call for a 5-ft. border on each side, this plan calls for twice that if not more.

“Tim and Jim have asked to do everything we possibly could to avoid being in the wetlands. This is the fourth design we have come up with in conjunction with a structural engineer,” Clark said.

Bobroske has extensive experience with inland wetlands, since he has served on the Harwinton inland wetlands board for over 19 years, he has served at the state level representing a Litchfield County association and sits on a bridge committee with the town of Harwinton, where the town is working on two bridges 20 times larger than the one being proposed in the application.

In addition, he worked with Bristol City planner Bob Flanagan on his Thomaston Village project, when Flanagan was the chair of the wetlands commission there.

His experience as a builder, close to 45 years, includes the creation of four communities — Quail Hollow Village, Plymouth, Thomaston Valley Village, Thomaston, Stone Ridge Apartments in Wolcott and Canterbury Village in New Hartford. They are all 55-and-over residences that adhere to the Fair Housing laws.

A fifth project, New Hartford Village, in New Hartford, is in the planning stages.

‘I can’t have a crystal ball, but we are putting the best face forward,” Bobroske said. “We are definitely committed; we are committed to the long run. If it takes five years, it takes five years.”

A meeting of the Friends of the Hoppers Birge Pond Preserve is scheduled for this evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Bristol Historical Society. Craig Minor, a certified city planner, will walk participants through proposal as regards its impact on the environment. Participants are asked to RSVP on the groups’ Facebook page. Click here.

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