East Lyme — The Board of Selectmen approved a threeyear moratorium on new sewer connections that effectively stops larger housing developments.

Before the 5-0 vote Wednesday, First Selectman Dan Cunningham said the moratorium, which the town pursued over concerns it is nearing the limit of how much sewage it can send to a New London treatment plant, also gives the town time to discover what its true capacity is.

The town has also said the moratorium gives it time to explore ways to expand its sewer capacity. One method it has proposed is expanding the sewer treatment plant in New London, a $50 million to $70 million project whose price and capacity increase would be split among East Lyme, Waterford and New London.

Before the vote, developer Glenn Russo, whose legal war with the town over developing part of his nearly 240 acres of land in the Oswegatchie Hills area goes back over 20 years, said the moratorium is only ostensibly against sewers. It’s actually against developers, specifically affordable housing developers, he said.

He also said the town’s claim that it’s nearing its sewer capacity limit is based on falsified, manipulated numbers.

“This will limit my ability to use my property for three years," Russo said.

Russo accused the town of weaponizing sewer capacity, which is exempt from state housing laws, to block affordable housing.

The town in 2018 allocated 118,000 gallons of sewage per day for Russo’s company, Landmark Development Group, after a state Appellate Court decision forced the town to do so, but Russo is still embroiled in a lawsuit with the town over a 2019 sewer ordinance that also restricts large developments.

Russo’s most recent proposal calls for 840 units in 24 buildings, which would cover about 36 acres of his 236-acre spread off Calkins and River roads in the Oswegatchie Hills area, which Russo says the town endeavors to keep as open space despite infringing on his property rights. He has owned the property since 2000.

“Your strategy as a town has not changed," Russo told the board.

Water and Sewer Department Chief Operating Officer Ben North said the town and his department have no malice against Russo, and he pointed to housing projects with affordable housing components that the town has approved.

North said the town is trying to be proactive and get caught up in sewer limit issues as projects develop, not limit growth.

The moratorium, effective 10 days after the town publishes official notice, blocks new sewer connection for developments of more than 20 single or multifamily units, or that would produce more than 5,000 gallons of sewage daily.

The ordinance originally said the moratorium will be repealed when the Water and Sewer Commission decides “there is sufficient capacity now available to the town’s sewer works to resume initiating new sewer connections” and again accept new applications for sewer allocations, but on Wednesday, Town Attorney Tim Bleasdale suggested the town set an expiration of Dec. 31, 2028. His revisions also said the town must hold a public hearing before extending the moratorium.

The town says that York Correctional Institution, the Connecticut National Guard Training Center at Camp Nett in Niantic, and Rocky Neck State Park use about 480,000 gallons of the town’s 1.5 million-gallon daily allotment at the New London plant. The town uses about 770,000 gallons a day, leaving an excess capacity of 252,000 gallons.

North said anticipated developments and approved connections that haven’t hooked up to the system use up another 280,000 gallons, meaning the town is at risk of exceeding its capacity in New London by about 27,000 gallons. Russo contests these numbers and said the town uses far less and uses less now than it did 15 years ago.

A moratorium would not apply to properties with approved sewer connections that haven’t been built yet.