Based on engineering data submitted to the Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) on a high-density multifamily housing complex proposed for a 35-acre site at 79 Church Hill Road, the developer is seeking to construct 350 dwellings there.

Fred Hurley, town director of public works, said the WSA would formally receive that application for wastewater treatment capacity from 79 Church Hill Road, LLC, at its meeting slated for 7 pm on Thursday, February 5, at the sewage treatment plant office building at 24 Commerce Road. 

It is expected that the WSA would schedule a public hearing on the wastewater application. The hearing would focus on the developer’s request to expand the central sewer district to include all of the 35-acre site, not just three acres of the site, as is now the case. 

Until now, the developer has not disclosed how many units would be sought for the site, which would have vehicular access from Walnut Tree Hill Road.

Walnut Tree Hill Road area residents have voiced opposition to the proposed complex, saying that the high-density development represents too much growth for that area, which already holds the 212-unit age-restricted Walnut Tree Village condominium complex.

The irregularly shaped parcel at 79 Church Hill Road lies generally north of Church Hill Road, west of Walnut Tree Hill Road, south of Evergreen Road, and east of Interstate 84.

Although the developer’s current application did not specifically state the number of dwellings proposed for the site, the number of dwellings was calculated by dividing a request for 43,750 gallons of wastewater treatment capacity by 125 gallons, which is the daily allotment of wastewater capacity for a single multifamily dwelling, Mr Hurley said.

If 350 units were to be built, the developer would need to couple existing wastewater treatment capacity that is now owned by the town and owned by the state to have sufficient capacity for the project, Mr Hurley said. The sewage treatment plant serves the town and also the state's facilities in Newtown.

In an initial application, the developer had not specified the wastewater treatment capacity being sought for the proposed multifamily complex, resulting in the WSA rejecting the application “without prejudice.” That rejection resulted in the developer suing the WSA in seeking to have a judge order that it receive wastewater treatment capacity for the project.

Following lengthy discussion at a heavily attended January 15 Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing, P&Z members unanimously approved a new set of zoning regulations that would cover high-density, multifamily housing complexes that include an affordable housing component.

Those new rules may be used by the developer of the 79 Church Hill Road site. The new zoning rules are known as Incentive Housing-10 Overlay Zone (IH-10).

A multifamily housing proposal for 79 Church Hill Road would require thorough review and approval by the P&Z. Such a project would include an affordable housing component.

P&Z members created IH-10 zoning as an alternative for developers to the state’s Affordable Housing Appeals Act of 1990 (AHAA).

The AHAA process smoothes the legal path for a developer to construct a multifamily complex with at least 30 percent of its units designated as affordable housing, provided that the developer’s land use application is first rejected by a local land use agency and the developer then appeals that rejection in state court. In such court cases, the developer most likely would win that appeal under the terms of the AHAA law.

P&Z members have explained that the IH-10 rules would allow them some control over the design of a multifamily complex, unlike the AHAA appeals victories by developers in which land use agencies have no such design control.