🔒Facing public opposition, developer drops truck stop plan near Batterson Park

Noble Energy Real Estate Holdings has withdrawn its plan to build a truck stop and warehouse on 86 wooded acres near Batterson Park, ending a proposal that drew opposition in three towns. The Hartford-based developer, the real estate arm of the fast-growing Noble Gas brand, notified Farmington on June 10 that it was abandoning its wetlands and zoning applications for the 8261 Fienemann Road site. Michael Frisbie, who co-owns Noble Gas, said the company decided to pull back after hearing how strongly residents objected. “After listening closely to local feedback and evaluating the remaining site dynamics, we have decided to withdraw our application,” he said in a statement to the HBJ, thanking town staff and residents for their engagement. A decision by the Farmington Town Council on June 9 presaged an uphill battle for the developer. The night before the applications were withdrawn, the Town Council voted to recommend that the Town Plan and Zoning Commission reject the proposal. The referral was only advisory, and the commission never acted on the application. For opponents, the withdrawal was a clear win. Stephani A. Roman, the attorney who served as the formal intervenor in the wetlands case and owns property across from the site on Slater Road in New Britain, said residents drove the result. “The community really came together to oppose this, and ultimately our voices prevailed,” she told the HBJ, adding that she hoped the land and Batterson Park Pond could stay protected. At the June 9 meeting, Town Councilor Bruce Polsky cited the area’s history of flooding, including the destruction caused by the 1955 flood, and said it “would be galactically stupid to let this thing go ahead.” The council’s negative recommendation was unanimous. Earlier, at a June 3 wetlands hearing, roughly two dozen people spoke against the plan, among them New Britain state Rep. David DeFronzo and New Britain Alderman Roy Centeno. A resident also read a statement on behalf of legislators from Hartford and Farmington. An online petition opposing the project gathered nearly 500 signatures. The largely undeveloped parcel sits at the New Britain-Farmington town line, just off Interstate 84’s Exit 37 and Fienemann Road, and features extensive natural wetlands and vernal pools. The project would have placed an 8,437-square-foot travel center and an 18,000-square-foot warehouse near the corner of Fienemann and Slater roads, paired with 16 standard fuel pumps and five high-speed diesel pumps for tractor-trailers. Noble had asked the town to rezone roughly 26 acres to its B1 business district and pledged to place the remaining 75 acres under a permanent conservation easement. The land is owned by the Municipal Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Hartford, which paid $5 million for it in 2017 and had held it as vacant residential land. Noble was under contract to buy the parcel. The site sits beside a parcel the state has spent heavily to protect. The state funded a $10 million restoration of the long-closed Batterson Park, which Hartford owns and plans to reopen next month under management by the nonprofit Riverfront Recapture. House Speaker Matt Ritter, who secured the funding, has urged Hartford, New Britain and Farmington to seek additional state aid to preserve the neighboring 86-acre tract as permanent open space. Frisbie said the project would have been a “unique win-win” for Farmington and that it would have preserved most of the property as permanent open space. The company will keep growing its Noble Gas and Soapy Noble brands across the state, he said.