BY ANDREAS YILMA
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
NAUGATUCK — A local construction company is looking to expand its footprint and develop two buildings in the industrial park.
Residents are hopeful that once the operation moves indoors there will be much less noise.
The Zoning Commission on June 21 approved a special permit for International Framers to develop two steel and metal single-story buildings, one 25,600 square feet and the other 10,200 square feet, at 280 Elm St.
The applicant will be required to provide the borough a sediment and erosion control landscaping bond and present a landscaping plan and final architectural drawings.
The business has another site at 258 Rubber Ave., the former Parks and Recreation Department office. International Framers is a commercial framing company.
Former borough engineer and current licensed land surveyor and civil engineer Wayne Zirolli, who represents the company, said business hours would be Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 9 to 9.
International Framers President Anthony Gallager said one building would be for office space and the other for cold storage. Construction time is about three to four months and the plan is to build the bigger building first.
The estimated cost of the development is about $3 million, according to the site plan application.
Carter said this commission has already approved that whole entire area under the special permit use for an industrial park by the Borough of Naugatuck.
“We would be coming back, we were selling off lots, we would be coming back to the commission with the pad sites,” Carter said. “So that whole 86 acres eventually is going to be developed.”
A couple of residents who live near the industrial park were critical of loud noise coming from construction such as an air gun or loud music.
Paul Kostes, who live on Ward Street, said one of his concerns is there is a constant tow motor sound that is heard through the whole day.
“So what we hear from 7 o’clock to 5 is air guns,” Kostes said. “It’s like pickleball on steroids, the whole day.”
For about a period of two or more weeks, music compared to that of a music festival lasted throughout the whole day as well.
Deborah Forish, who also lives on Ward Street, echoed the loud noises.
“I need a day where there’s no noise and I can outside and enjoy my backyard,” Forish said. “I have kids. I want to be able to enjoy my backyard without somebody else’s music or the level of noise being so loud that it feels like it’s drilling into your head.”
Zoning Enforcement Officer Ed Carter said it is zoned I-1, for heavy industrial use, and this application meets the threshold.
“It’s our highest level of industrial use,” Carter said. “It has been there forever.”
Borough attorney Ned Fitzpatrick said the town has a noise ordinance which has been enforced in the past by police.
“Once we get the building up, all the construction will be in the inside,” said Gallager, who added the building will have insulation.
Forish said she’s hopeful that when things go inside, it’ll be quieter.
“They are allowed by zone to work outside but they are governed, if there’s noise, they are governed by any decibel issues,” Fitzpatrick said.
Zirolli said they would probably enhance some of the areas with some screening plantings that will help muffle some noises as well.
Commission member Eileen Bronko said having businesses come in “is a great thing so it’s more about how we mitigate when the borough has a neighboring neighborhood right on the Industrial Zone.”
“Assuming once the buildings are built, there will be a difference and I would expect a significant difference,” Bronko said. “Are you never going to hear any noise from any of the industrial places that may come in, probably not.”
Fitzpatrick echoed those sentiments.
“When the building is up, I think, my sense, you’ll see significant diminishment of noise,” he said.
