Parking lots and permits at PZC

Not every Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) can be a banger—but as someone who watches more videos than is entirely normal about curb cuts and rain harvesting gardens, this reporter still found something interesting about the Thursday, August 20, 2026 PZC meeting that saw the perfunctory renewal of Stafford Sand and Gravel’s earth removal and lasting permit, and the approval of a site plan application for Solventum Purifications on River Road.

A look at the plans for a 71 parking spots at Solventum and rain garden to clean and capture run off (far left).

While the permit renewal happens every couple of years, Solventum’s plan to rework its parking and paving is new. The Willimantic River runs right by the plant, putting the building and its parking lot in a flood zone. Construction has also taken its toll on some of the areas. So, Solventum now wants to reduce the amount of impermeable surface by about 7,000 square feet adding in a rain garden and a dry rock bed to capture, filter, and direct water back to the river. 

Approval was, again, pretty cut and dry—the PZC asked only that the project engineers confirm that the work won’t raise the topography by more than a foot in the flood zone. So, let’s take a moment to learn about dry stream beds and curb cuts with rain gardens.

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