North Branford residents are speaking out against plans to build a 65,000-gallon propane storage facility on this property on Ciro Road.
“Do you want to live next to something that's like a small atomic bomb?” asked James Flaherty.
Flaherty alleges that the facility would be dangerous because of its close vicinity to hundreds of homes. Right across the street is a cell tower, which Flaherty describes as the town's largest lightning rod.
“You have hot tanks venting gas. You have a very serious lightning strike threat; that's a scenario for catastrophe as far as I can see,” he said.
It's not only the facility that he opposes, it's the way he says the town has gone about it by pushing it through, changing zoning regulations and failing to disclose that the owner of the land sits on the Town Council.
The town says the proposal has gone through the proper process, including a public hearing held on the matter.
Some residents are trying to put it to a referendum by collecting signatures on a petition, which they'll submit at next week's Town Council meeting.
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“I think the townspeople have an enormous right to vote on the most dangerous thing they've ever proposed in the town, and they're trying to deny the people the right to reverse the zoning regulations,” said Flaherty.
A Planning and Zoning meeting will take place Thursday, but officials don't expect to make any final decisions on the facility.
Neither the North Branford mayor, Planning and Zoning chairman nor the Town Council member who owns the property and the company that would build the facility returned requests for comment.
