The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) convened its hearing on a proposed 23-lot cluster-style residential subdivision in Dodgingtown on Wednesday evening, September 10. About 40 people attended to comment on the project and to ask questions about its development. The commission, however, put off hearing responses from the developers until a future meeting.

Roughly the same number of people attended this week’s hearing as attended an August 27 IWC meeting that was set for the same topic, but at the earlier meeting it was learned that, due to a technicality, the hearing would be postponed. All property owners with holdings within 500 feet of a subdivision site must, by law, be formally notified of such a public hearing. That requirement, however, had not been met, so the project’s developer sought on August 22 and then received on August 27 the IWC’s approval to have the public hearing rescheduled to September, so that such formal notification could be fully made.

Attorney Francis J. Collins of Danbury spoke for the project’s two development firms at this week’s meeting. The firms are proposing the construction of The Preserve at Newtown subdivision at a 167-acre site. The project is proposed by developers KASL, LLC, and IBF, LLC. The firms are also represented by local developer/builder George L. Trudell.

The cluster-style development is designed to gather its residences in two separate areas on the sprawling site as a means to preserve a large amount of undeveloped open space land. About nine house lots would be created along the southeast side of Robin Hill Road #2, which extends northeastward from Rock Ridge Road near Rock Ridge Country Club.

Another cluster of house lots would be constructed on a proposed new dead end street to be known as Deer Hill Drive extending southeastward from Scudder Road, south of Ferris Road.

By clustering the houses on relatively small lots, the plans would allow 84 acres, or about half of the site, to remain undeveloped and protected as open space land.

As part of their technical review of the application, IWC members will tour the site to learn how the project’s engineering design would environmentally protect wetlands and watercourses there. The IWC’s regulatory role is to review development plans with an eye toward requiring measures to environmentally protect wetlands and watercourses.

Once and if the project gains IWC approval, it would then go before the Planning and Zoning Commission, which also typically conducts public hearings.

Before the public hearing portion of the meeting convened, the IWC heard a presentation on the proposal, including descriptions of where development is proposed within 100 feet of wetlands, where runoff is expected, and how drainage will be handled.

“The applicant believes that the conservation subdivision approach is a careful and considerate manner to the development of this land while at the same time preserving a very large track of land as open space,” said Mr Collins. “As mentioned earlier, the applicant considered a number of proposals concerning the use of this property, and finally wound up with what he believes is the most appropriate one. This application is consistent with the regulations and it offers an opportunity to leave much of the property in its natural state to the town.”

Before members of the public spoke, IWC Chair Mary Curran asked everyone in attendance to limit their comments to things that address “this application and wetlands and watercourses. Other subjects, like traffic and noise, other subjects other than wetlands and watercourses will be directed to other commissions... We have no jurisdiction on those other subjects. We are only talking about wetlands and watercourses.”

A number of residents voiced concerns with the development’s possible effects on areas of land that are near the proposed development, including whether possible runoff would overburden areas where some residents said have already been burdened by past development projects.

Aida Kiernan, a Scudder Road resident, read a letter from her husband, Ed, that summed up concerns about a number of properties on Scudder Road. After a past development did not install a silt pond, according to Ms Kiernan, ramifications to the area included ponds becoming filled with silt and inhospitable to local wildlife, and some roadwork had to be redone.

“Over the years I have witnessed the progressive destruction of a small natural resource, the loss of wildlife, the loss of support for wildlife, the loss of recreation, and the expenses it has cost homeowners in the past and evidently in the future,” Ms Kiernan read.

Robert Shohet, another Scudder Road resident, also spoke against the application, saying, among other complaints, that he was not personally notified of the hearing until the day before, after complaining to the IWC. He also said he used the State of Connecticut’s website to research more information on KASL, LLC, and IBF, LLC. Mr Shohet said the website showed a deceased man acting as an agent for both firms.

Mr Collins responded to Mr Shohet’s concerns, and other complaints about not receiving notices, by saying the notices for the hearing were sent out using a crossing with the town’s geographic information system (GIS) and the town assessor’s records, but the applicant later learned that two people never received notification due to a map not being filed years ago and another being under a different name.

Mr Collins also said the annual reports filed by both LLCs with the State of Connecticut have no effect on the application’s legality.

“It has no effect on the validity on the LLC’s existence or its ability to file an application,” Mr Collins said.

Other concerns and questions voiced by residents included how construction of the development will be handled, whether the development could be downsized from 23 lots to 21 lots, and whether a map could be provided at a future meeting to show how neighboring properties would be effected by the development.

As the meeting ran after 10 pm, Ms Curran proposed postponing further responses from the applicant until a future IWC meeting. That meeting was proposed for October 8 at 7:30 pm at the Newtown Municipal Center.

The IWC development plans filed by the applicant are available for public review at the town land use agency office at Newtown Municipal Center during regular business hours, 8 am to 4:30 pm, Mondays through Fridays.

This story was updated on Friday, September 12, to clarify comments by Mr Shohet.