WSA Rejects Sewers For Proposed Multifamily Complex
Following the conclusion of an April 1 public hearing, Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) members unanimously rejected a Trumbull developer’s controversial request for sanitary sewer service for 79 Church Hill Road. That 35-acre site, near the Exit 10 interchange of Interstate 84, is where the developer has proposed the construction of a large multifamily complex, with an affordable housing component.
WSA members rejected applicant 79 Church Hill Road, LLC’s request to expand the sewer service district so that all 35 acres of the site are in the district, not just the three acres nearest Church Hill Road, as is now the case.
Also, the WSA turned down the developer’s request that 43,750 gallons, or alternately 43,845 gallons, of daily wastewater treatment capacity be reserved at the sewage treatment plant for wastewater from the proposed complex.
Attorney Timothy Hollister, representing developer Sirjohn Papageorge of Trumbull, doing business as 79 Church Hill Road LLC, said April 2, “I felt the [WSA] didn’t listen to what we were saying.” The WSA’s proceedings were not responsive to the developer’s requests, he said. Mr Hollister declined further comment.
The proposal to build a large multifamily complex has drawn stiff opposition from some Walnut Tree Hill Road area residents who charge that the presence of such a project would pose environmental problems. They also have raised construction density issues, saying that the southern end of Walnut Tree Hill Road already holds the 212-unit Walnut Tree Village age-restricted condominium complex. Vehicle access to the proposed housing complex would extend from Walnut Tree Hill Road.
The developer has declined to state how many dwellings he proposes for the 79 Church Hill Road site, but his WSA application documents list “350 units” as the maximum which would be allowed under the terms of applicable zoning rules. The amount of sewage treatment capacity that he sought from the WSA would provide service for 350 dwellings.
In December, the WSA rejected “without prejudice” the developer’s initial application for sewer service for the multifamily project, stating the application contained insufficient information. In response, the developer filed a lawsuit seeking to have a judge order the WSA to provide sewer service. The WSA’s April 1 rejection of the sewering request pertains to a second application that was filed by the developer.
Rationale Explained
In their dual motions to reject the requests to expand the sewer district and also to reserve wastewater treatment capacity for the project, WSA members stated their rationale. They broadly found that the requests do not conform to the terms of the town’s Water Pollution Control Plan.
Regarding the request to expand the sewer district, WSA members found that the sewer district was created to resolve existing groundwater pollution caused by failing septic systems, but the acreage sought for inclusion in sewer district is located in a designated “sewer avoidance area.”
Also, there currently are no environmental conditions at the site to compel it to be redesignated as “requiring sewers,” they found.
Also, the developer seeks access to about double of the town’s remaining unallocated 23,410 gallons of wastewater treatment capacity at the sewage treatment plant, they found.
On the request to designate 43,750 gallons of daily wastewater treatment capacity for the proposed complex, the WSA members listed some parallel reasons for their denial.
Also, WSA members found that adding more treatment capacity at the sewage plant to meet the developer’s request would be prohibitively expensive, based on an engineering analysis.
WSA members also questioned whether the state would be willing to transfer some of its remaining unallocated treatment capacity at the sewage plant to the developer for a housing complex, as has been requested by the developer.
About 15 members of the public attended the WSA hearing held at the Multipurpose Center. About 30 members of the public had attended an initial hearing held on March 12 at Town Hall South.
The proposed multifamily complex has no working name.
The roughly triangular site at 79 Church Hill Road is bounded on the south by Church Hill Road, on the east by Walnut Tree Hill Road, on the north by seven properties alongside Evergreen Road, and on the west by westbound Interstate 84 and its Exit 10 interchange.
Besides WSA approval, the project would require approvals from the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Inland Wetlands Commission, and the Aquifer Protection Agency.