East Lyme ― The developer behind a 20-year push to build hundreds of apartments in the Oswegatchie Hills over the Niantic River has angered neighbors with a tree-cutting operation they say endangers the bald eagles there.

Middletown-based businessman Glenn Russo has a zoning permit to operate a tree farm, a building permit to put up two sheds and an exemption from the town’s municipal wetlands regulations because tree farmers in East Lyme don’t need wetlands permits to harvest their land.

Krystle Bartek, who lives on Calkins Road near the unpaved entrance to Russo’s roughly 230 acres, said she began hearing chainsaws about a month ago. Then a walk with her dog revealed trees down behind the remnants of a chain link fence topped with barbed wire marking the property Russo has been fighting to develop for 20 years.

“It’s very disheartening because for the last five years I’ve watched a family of eagles multiply,” she said. “When I first moved in it was one, and now it’s five.”

She said she saw an eagle’s nest on Russo’s property while walking with her partner and dog earlier this year.

Bartek’s neighbor, Beth Acton, said the timing of the logging during the bald eagle nesting season is what bothers her most. The season, as defined by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, spans Feb. 1 to July 15 as bald eagle pairs mate, lay eggs and raise their young until the time comes to leave the nest.

Acton said she’s not trying to stop developers from doing “what they have every right to do” on their own property. Instead, she called out the deforestation because it’s occurring at what is considered a sensitive time for young eagles.

“Eagles will not tend to their young and will abandon the nest if there’s disruption in the area, which there is with the chainsaws and the dropping of trees,” she said.

Russo’s land consists of several parcels owned by the limited liability corporations Landmark Development Group and Jarvis of Cheshire.

Map: Scott Ritter/The Day | Data: Town of East Lyme; Conn DEEP; CartoDB; Bing

Doug Dubitsky, a state representative who practices law in Windham, first pitched the tree farm concept to local officials as Russo’s attorney in 2017. That’s when he submitted a narrative to the town’s Inland Wetlands Agency explaining the plan to cut down native hardwood trees in selected areas of the property to make way for “nursery stock and Christmas trees — mostly White Pine — for wholesale, on-site retail, and possibly 'cut-your-own' sales.”

Russo at the time had already made a name for himself locally because of his other plan for the same property. That proposal called for as many as 840 apartments to be constructed in what is currently a dense canopy of trees overlooking the river, with a third of them set aside at reduced rates under the state’s affordable housing law.

The list of those fighting the housing proposal since 2000 has grown to include neighbors, multiple local commissions and a coalition of environmental groups. A state Superior Court judge a year and a half ago sent the housing plan back to the East Lyme Zoning Commission “for further review” after Russo sued the commission because of conditions they placed upon the approval. His lawyers argued the commission illegally limited the number of acres he could build on and placed excessive requirements not in keeping with local regulations or state law.

A separate lawsuit against the Water and Sewer Commission lodged in Superior Court by Russo in 2020 is ongoing.

Russo said he intends to submit a site plan for the housing development with the Zoning Commission, but not until the issues raised in the pending sewer case are clarified.

No nests

Russo in a phone interview Wednesday said he hired environmental professional George Logan to identify what types of animals and plants are on the property. Logan is identified in a resume available on the state website as an environmental scientist and senior ecologist.

“There are no nests on the property,” Russo said.

State wildlife biologist Brian Hess of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Wednesday there are no known nests in the immediate area of the property. The nearest nest cataloged by the environmental agency is about a mile away on the other side of the river in Waterford, according to Hess.

The biologist, a DEEP employee for nine years, noted the eagle population is on the upswing. The birds of prey are considered “threatened” by the state ― which means they’re in danger of being declared endangered ― but are in the midst of a recovery.

He said there was a single nest in Connecticut back in 1992 after the chemical DDT and related pesticides pushed the species to the edge of extinction. Now there are about 90 on the state’s list. He identified the period between when eggs hatch in the beginning of April and when the leaves come in on the trees as “the most sensitive time of the year” for activity around the nest.

Federal and state law prohibits the disturbance of bald eagle nests. According to Hess, that holds true whether the nests are occupied or not. A federal permit is required to remove a nest.

National Bald Eagle management guidance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends avoiding timber harvesting within 660 feet of a nest during breeding season. Clear-cutting should be avoided within 330 feet at any time.

Environmental reviews by DEEP scientists are triggered for projects that require a state permit, are located on state land or are funded with state money, according to Hess. Since many local projects do not meet those criteria, he said he also provides technical assistance to towns to deal with permitting decisions they need to make.

East Lyme planning director and inland wetlands agent Gary Goeschel said Tuesday he consulted with Hess about the neighbors’ concerns. He also notified Russo and Dubitsky and was told they would take appropriate precautions.

Russo said he hired Hancock Logging to do the forestry work roughly two weeks ago. The company’s owner is on the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s list of certified forest practitioners.

Russo reiterated no nests were found on the property. Asked what the protocol is if a nest is spotted during logging operations, he said the forester will call him and he will call his environmental consultant.

Following the plan

Zoning official Bill Mulholland said he requested a legal review of the zoning application by Town Attorney Mark Zamarka in 2019. Among concerns laid out by Zamarka in an email to Mulholland was the need to clarify the scope of the tree clearing. He noted the site plan map from the developer identified the property line as the “tree clearing limits.”

“This raises the question of whether the applicant intends to establish and manage a forest or engage in clear cutting or logging, which may fall outside the definition of forestry,” Zamarka wrote.

Mullholland said Wednesday he was satisfied the developers' plans as submitted fit the meaning of forestry.

Russo, asked for details about the extent and phasing of the tree clearing, said the plan remains as it was originally submitted and explained by Dubitsky several years ago.

Dubitsky back then told the Inland Wetlands Agency the operation would involve harvesting hardwood trees and planting softwood trees on a five-acre section and then proceed to other five-acre areas on the site.

Two existing farm roads on the property are in poor condition and need to be fixed and improved to allow the tree farming, Dubitsky said at the time.

Members of the Inland Wetlands Agency back then asked questions about the condition of the existing roads and how specifically the roads would be improved, with some members saying they wanted more information. They decided that if any activities entail the filling of a wetland or watercourse, Landmark first would need to seek a permit from the agency.

Rough markups of potential tree farming areas showed them to the east of the proposed affordable housing units in Landmark's latest housing application.

Goeschel this week reiterated it’s not the town’s place to regulate bald eagle nests on private property. That’s up to the state and the federal government, he said.

“You can’t stop someone from clearing their land because there’s bald eagles in the area,” Goeschel said.

e.regan@theday.com