Months of tense hearings and court-like drama before the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission will wrap up Dec. 19, but the fault lines are evident between advocates of a large-scale excavation and development, on the one hand, and neighbors fiercely opposed to a project they say will lower nearby property values and their quality of life. Developer Gales Ferry Intermodal, owned by Massachusetts-based Jay Cashman Inc., has pitched the plan as a money-maker for the town that’s appropriate for the industrial-zoned property. GFI has applied for a special permit allowing the company to grade the site and blast the north side of the 256-foot-high Mount Decatur, also known as Dragon Hill. The company has proposed a 10-year excavation during which it would cart off and sell the granite rock to prepare the site for development afterward.
Fight Over Planned Decadelong Leveling of Mount Decatur Comes to a Head in Ledyard