Developer proposes allowing multi-unit housing in Groton's mixed-use industrial zones

Nov. 13—GROTON — A company that owns 140 acres of undeveloped land north of Interstate 95 and east of Route 117 is proposing the town allow multi-unit housing in the town's mixed-use industrial zone.

While no application has yet been submitted, Attorney William Sweeney, representing The Downes-Patterson Corp., held a preliminary discussion Tuesday with the Planning and Zoning Commission about a potential zoning text amendment that would allow, with conditions, multi-unit housing in the Industrial/Mixed Use District.

Most of the 140 acres, which are located just north of the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa, are in that zone and have remained undeveloped for years, Sweeney said.

"Despite concerted efforts by my client to develop this site, its challenging site conditions, combined with both the absence of adequate utility infrastructure and soft demand for commercial/industrial space has presented significant obstacles," Sweeney wrote in a letter to the town. "While the IM District permits a wide variety of commercial/industrial uses, along with an assortment of somewhat peculiar uses such as restaurants and single-family dwellings, multi-unit dwellings are curiously not permitted."

According to the town regulations, the district now allows uses such as research and development, light manufacturing, offices, hotels, restaurants, limited retail, recreation, and, with conditions, one and two-unit dwellings.

Town staff and the commission previously have discussed the potential of allowing multi-family housing in that zone.

Sweeney said when Downes-Patterson approached the town about the idea, it was suggested that the commission, which has been wrestling with the increased demand for housing for workers, might consider it.

Sweeney said overall, about 1,100 acres along I-95 are in the IM District, but only about half is suitable for development due to site conditions. He said many of the properties are not well suited for large-scale industrial development, but are suited for residential communities that are part of mixed-use projects.

Sweeney said the proposal would create opportunities for newcomers arriving in the region with the Electric Boat expansion to live in Groton and spend their money at local businesses, rather than move to the surrounding communities.

Mark Wolman, a principal at Downes-Patterson, said the company has been getting calls from people interested in residential development for the property.

He thinks there are maybe 40 to 60 acres at the entrance that could be developed with groups of units.

During discussions, commission members discussed minimum acreage sizes for multi-unit developments and the need for buffers.

Sweeney said he would consult with town staff and prepare an application to amend the town's regulations.

Deb Jones, the town's assistant director of planning and development services, said that after an application is submitted, it would be reviewed by various agencies and then go to a public hearing.

If the amendment is approved, site plan approval would be needed for any future proposed development to move forward.

"We used to hate elephants a lot," Kenyan farmer Charity Mwangome says, pausing from her work under the shade of a baobab tree.The bees humming in the background are part of the reason why her hatred has dimmed.The diminutive 58-year-old said rapacious elephants would often destroy months of work in her farmland that sits between two parts of Kenya's world-renowned Tsavo National Park.Beloved by tourists - who contribute around 10 percent of Kenya's GDP - the animals are loathed by most local farmers, who form the backbone of the nation's economy.Elephant conservation has been a roaring success: numbers in Tsavo rose from around 6,000 in the mid-1990s to almost 15,000 elephants in 2021, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).But the human population also expanded, encroaching on grazing and migration routes for the herds.Resulting clashes are becoming the number one cause of elephant deaths, says KWS.Refused compensation when she lost her crops, Mwangome admits she was mad with the conservationists. But a long-running project by charity Save the Elephants offered her an unlikely solution - deterring some of nature's biggest animals with some of its smallest: African honeybees.Cheery yellow beehive fences now protect several local plots, including Mwangome's. A nine-year study published last month found that elephants avoided farms with the ferocious bees 86 percent of the time."The beehive fences came to our rescue," said Mwangome.- Hacking nature -The deep humming of 70,000 bees is enough to make many flee, including a six-tonne elephant, but Loise Kawira calmly removes a tray in her apiary to demonstrate the intricate combs of wax and honey.Kawira, who joined Save the Elephants in 2021 as their consultant beekeeper, trains and monitors farmers in the delicate art.The project supports 49 farmers, whose plots are surrounded by 15 connected hives. Each is strung on greased wire a few metres off the ground, which protects them from badgers and insects, but also means they shake when disturbed by a hungry elephant. "Once the elephants hear the sound of the bees and the smell, they run away," Kawira told AFP."It hacks the interaction between elephants and bees," added Ewan Brennan, local project coordinator. It has been effective, but recent droughts, exacerbated by climate change, have raised challenges."(In) the total heat, the dryness, bees have absconded," said Kawira.It is also expensive - about 150,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,100) to install hives - well beyond the means of subsistence farmers, though the project organisers say it is still cheaper than electric fences.- 'I was going to die' -Just moments after AFP arrived at Mwanajuma Kibula's farm, which abuts one of the Tsavo parks, her beehive fence had seen off an elephant.The five-tonne animal, its skin caked in red mud, rumbled into the area and then did an abrupt about-face. "I know my crops are protected," Kibula said with palpable relief.Kibula, 48, also harvests honey twice a year from her hives, making 450 shillings per jar - enough to pay school fees for her children.She is fortunate to have protection from the biggest land mammals on Earth."An elephant ripped off my roof, I had to hide under the bed because I knew I was going to die," said a less-fortunate neighbour, Hendrita Mwalada, 67.For those who can't afford bees, Save the Elephants offers other solutions, such as metal-sheet fences that clatter when shaken by approaching elephants, and diesel- or chilli-soaked rags that deter them. It is not always enough. "I have tried planting but every time the crops are ready, the elephants come and destroy the crops," Mwalada told AFP."That has been the story of my life, a life full of too much struggling."ra-rbu/er/kjm

STORY: Shell has won an appeal against a landmark climate order for it to cut greenhouse gas emissions.The appeals court in The Hague dismissed the 2021 ruling that Shell must cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, relative to 2019 levels.That included emissions caused by the use of its products.The case had been brought Friends of the Earth Netherlands, known as Milieudefensie.But presiding judge Carla Joustra said Shell was already on its way to meet required targets for its own emissions."Shell has set a specific reduction target for scope 1 and 2 that means its scope 1 and 2 emissions will be reduced by 50% by 2030 compared to 2016. Furthermore, it follows from the documents provided by Shell that it had already achieved a 31% reduction by 2023. So Shell is already doing what Milieudefensie is claiming from it. Milieudefensie's claim regarding scope 1 and 2 is therefore not admissible."The Dutch court did say, however, that the oil giant has a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect people from global warming.It said Shell was already on its way to meet required targets for its own emissions.And it said that it was unclear if demands to reduce emissions caused by the use of its products would help the fight against climate change.The ruling coincides with the COP29 U.N. climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.On the agenda is a continuation of last year's talks about transitioning away from fossil fuels. Shell Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan welcomed the decision, saying Shell believed it was "the right one for the global energy transition, the Netherlands and our company."Milieudefensie said it was disappointed about Shell's victory and would continue its fight against large polluters."This really touches me. This should have been the moment of a real breakthrough in the fight against dangerous climate change. That didn't happen today, but the fight against dangerous climate change is a marathon, not a sprint, and the race has only just begun."