Several Scudder Road area residents, who spoke at a December 18 Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing on the proposed Preserve at Newtown 23-lot residential subdivision, stressed they fear that their already unreliable domestic well water supplies would be diminished after new homes are built in that area and start drawing up subterranean water through new wells.

The December 18 session was a continuation of a November 20 hearing at which area residents raised concerns about their water supplies, expected increased traffic flow, and proposed high construction densities in two housing clusters at the 167-acre Dodgingtown development site.

The developers propose two clusters of single-family houses on the 167-acre site, where about half of the acreage would be designated as “open space” for passive forms of recreation under the provisions of the town’s “open space conservation subdivision” (OSCS) regulations.

In conventional large-lot subdivisions, the P&Z requires that at least 15 percent of the site be kept as open space, while the OSCS rules require that at least 50 percent of the terrain remain as undeveloped open space.

The Preserve at Newtown is the first subdivision application to reach the P&Z under the terms of the OSCS rules, which the P&Z created in 2004. The rules are intended to limit suburban sprawl.

One housing cluster of nine dwellings would be located along the southeast side of Robin Hill Road #2, which is a dead-end street extending northeastward from Rock Ridge Road, near Rock Ridge Country Club. The other housing cluster would be built along a proposed quarter-mile dead-end street extending southeastward from Scudder Road, south of Ferris Road.

The project is proposed by developers KASL, LLC, and IBF, LLC. The firms are represented by local developer/builder George L. Trudell II.

Jean Kreizinger of 4 Ferris Road told P&Z members that she has dealt with water supply problems at her property since 1970.

Ms Kreizinger asked whether the construction of new wells to serve the proposed new houses would result in her needing to drill her well deeper in order to get sufficient water.

“We’re all going to suffer,” she observed.

Ferris Road is a dead-end street that extends from Scudder Road.

Chris Dran of 48 Scudder Road told P&Z members that residents living in the area have had water supply problems over the years. Ms Dran said that after some new houses were built in the area in the past, those water problems intensified.

“This a is a major issue that cannot be ignored,” she said.

Wells are expensive to drill, and even new wells are not necessarily reliable, she noted.

Ms Dran urged P&Z members to take the Scudder Road area residents’ water supply concerns seriously.

Her statements drew applause from the audience. About 25 residents attended the December 18 session for The Preserve at Newtown hearing.

Bart Rasmussen of 55 Scudder Road, representing Robert Shohet of 51 Scudder Road, told P&Z members that Mr Shohet opposes the development proposal.

Mr Rasmussen raised a variety of questions about the legitimacy and the membership of the two development firms which have applied for the project — KASL, LLC, and IBF, LLC.

Renate Clarke of 47 Scudder Road told P&Z members that her water well is 805 feet deep, adding that much effort and expense has been required for her family to have a reliable water supply. She said her well produces only one-half gallon of water per minute.

“When they build all these homes and my well goes dry, are they going to relocate my well?” she asked P&Z members.

“I’m scared,” she said.

Many residents in the Scudder Road area run out of well water at times, Ms Clarke said.

Ms Clarke noted that many homes on Scudder Road are posted for sale. She asked why new houses need to built in the area when so many existing houses are for sale.

P&Z Chairman Robert Mulholland said that The Preserve at Newtown proposal is designed to preserve a large amount of open space land. Many more houses than the 23 houses proposed could potentially be built at the 167-acre site, if the application had been submitted as a conventional large-lot subdivision, Mr Mulholland said.

The OSCS development concept is very beneficial to both nearby residents and to the town at large, he said.

Gene Eames of 10 Ferris Road told P&Z members that the development plans call for the construction of 11 new houses near his home. Construction in the subdivision could last for as long as ten years, he said.

My Eames stressed that there would be many new water wells drilled in the area near his house, posing a risk to his water supply.

Developer Responds

In response to the public comments, Mr Trudell said that various deficient paperwork covering KASL, LLC, and IBF, LLC has been rectified at the Secretary of the State’s office in Hartford.

David Murphy, senior hydrogeologist for Milone & MacBroom, Inc, representing the developers, said he reviewed records on 32 domestic water wells in the area near the development site.

Some of those wells produce yields of one-half gallon to two gallons per minute, which are considered to be low well yields, he said.

The area sits atop a bedrock formation which is not well fractured, and thus does not produce much water when wells are drilled into it, he said.

“We get it…There’s a frustration with existing [well] yields in the area,” Mr Murphy said.

Mr Murphy said, however, that there is sufficient subterranean water in the area to provide for both the existing properties and the proposed new houses.

“From a volumetric viewpoint, there’s enough water for everyone,” he said.

 The new wells in the area would be well-separated, he said.

Mr Murphy predicted that the presence of new houses would not make the well water supply situation for existing properties in the area any better or any worse.

Mr Trudell said that the new houses would have toilets that use relatively little water for flushing and the houses’ shower heads would have flow restrictors on them.

Also, new wells are more efficient devices than the wells which were drilled 50 years ago, such as some in the Scudder Road area, he said.

Mr Trudell said that having built houses in the Scudder Road area in the past, he is aware of its water supply situation.

Mr Trudell said he expects that it would take between five and ten years to construct all the houses in the proposed subdivision, depending upon economic conditions.

New houses initially would be built along Robin Hill Road #2, with a new road extended from Scudder Road after the Robin Hill Road work is done, he said.

“We really hope it’s not ten years,” he said.

Mr Mulholland said, “We understand the water [supply]) issue. There’s other places in town that have a water issue.”

Blasting

Mr Mulholland added that when a builder needs to blast when constructing a subdivision, the builder must notify people nearby that blasting will occur.

Such blasting is regulated by the town fire marshal, said George Benson, town director of planning.

Concerning blasting, Ms Clarke of Scudder Road asked how she would be protected in the event that her water well gets damaged due to the construction project.

Mr Trudell said a developer pays to have preblast surveys performed on properties near blasting sites. Seismographs are used to measure vibration due to blasting, he added. Also, blasters are well insured in the event that they cause damage, he said.

“This is hard decision for everybody,” Mr Mulholland said of the Preserve development proposal.

The Preserve hearing is scheduled to resume on January 15, when P&Z members will review a report on the archaeological aspects of the 167-acre site.

The Preserve proposal gained a wetlands/watercourses protection permit from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) on November 12.

The developers’ applications to both the P&Z and the IWC are available for public review during regular business hours at the town Land Use Agency offices at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.