Shire Subdivision Request Delayed for City Immunity Review

The city Plan Commission Monday postponed its review of a proposed 16-home addition to The Shire subdivision in order to await legal documents that would give the city immunity if issues arise from an adjacent closed landfill.

Commissioners tabled the request by developer Joseph Niebler, rescheduling it for a special Plan Commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at City Hall, 2000 N. Calhoun Rd.

The lands involved have been barred from construction since 2004 while the state and city investigated concerns about contamination from a closed landfill maintained by Waste Management.

A city moratorium committee adopted a state report that said Waste Management should .

The state also recommended that any developed outlots in the subdivision expansion should have sub-slab vapor mitigation systems with a liner, coarse gravel base, perforated piping, a sealed sump and fan.

An area resident, Jane St. Peter, urged the city to deny additional home building there.

"It does not seem prudent to continue further development so close to an active Superfund site," she wrote in an email. "Brookfield residents are depending on the city to promote a healthy living environment."

Attorney Russ Klingaman wrote: "Indemnity for the city? How is that going to help someone with landfill gas in their yard or home?"