Ledyard ― The former owner of a popular Gales Ferry ice cream shop was one of approximately 100 people who showed up at hearing Tuesday to oppose an permit application for a 353-unit apartment complex on the property that formerly housed Cows and Cones.

“This would be a horrible mistake for Gales Ferry,” said Peter Bergman, who owned the former farm for decades prior to Klewin C R LLC of Old Lyme purchasing it in June for $700,000.

Members of the public argued before the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission that construction of the four-building complex on the 19-acre property at 29 and 39 Military Highway would be catastrophic for the village. They charged it would damage wetlands, increase flooding and possibly contaminate drinking water in the area.

The project requires wetlands commission approval because a small portion of a parking lot infringes upon the upland review area, and some work, like grading the site, will also need to be conducted in the 100-foot regulated buffer area that surrounds the wetland.

Some residents had previously argued before the Town Council that the town should stop the project by any means necessary, including taking the property by eminent domain to create a public park.

The hearing comes after residents successfully petitioned to force a public hearing on plans for the four, five-story buildings and clubhouse with amenities and a pool.

The project proposes to install an onsite wastewater processing system that would treat sewage before releasing it into an onsite dispersal field.

At the hearing, Richard Ross, representative for the system’s maker Epic Cleantec, told the commission that the treated water would meet state environmental standards for non-drinking water, and would be clean enough to irrigate the property.

Resident Terrance McAuliffe, a physical engineer and certified construction manager, raised a number of concerns he had with the water treatment proposal including the number of gallons of water Epic Cleantec had assumed the system would need to process daily.

McAuliffe was among the residents that argued that DEEP requires a septic system to be able to handle 150 gallons a day, per bedroom.

But McAuliffe said the Epic Cleantec system would only handle 49 gallons per bedroom per day.

“The system’s design assumptions grossly underestimate the requirements,” McAuliffe said, stressing that a wastewater treatment system needs to be designed based on the worst-case scenario.

McAuliffe also noted that the company based its calculations on water use in an eight-story, 412-bedroom apartment building in California. He argued that the building boasts extreme water efficiency while Connecticut has no such restrictions on water use or similar efficiency standards, making the comparison inappropriate.

He also expressed concern about how the system would function during a power outage and how essential maintenance would be performed. Additionally, he raised some legal concerns and noted that portions of the site plan do not comply with town regulations.

“The application that was delivered to you, in part and in whole, is wholly inadequate,” he said.

On behalf of Cranberry Pond owner Avalonia Land Conservancy, resident Julie Woody requested a redetermination of the property’s wetland boundaries, noting the boundaries were identified during a dry season, and based on soil type.

She said that soils present on the property were the result of flooding due to beaver activity and may not be an accurate measure of where the wetland boundaries are located.

She also noted that the estimated 50,000 gallons of water a day that would be released by the treatment system would run straight into Cranberry Pond and the wetlands surrounding it.

A 45-year resident, Valerie Roberts, argued that the low points of the village, like the parking lot of the nearby McDonalds restaurant on Route 12 often flood during heavy rains, and she wondered what impact the extra water would have on the flooding.

She, and many others, also expressed concerns that the non-potable water discharged from the development’s treatment system would infiltrate their wells, making their water unsafe to drink.

The town has contracted independent experts to conduct third party reviews of the proposal. Town Planner Liz Burdick said she hoped the reports would be complete in time for the next meeting of the commission.

The commission ended the meeting before public comment was complete, but voted to continue the hearing to Oct. 1.