Town Officials Consider Hawleyville Sewer System Expansion

By Andrew Gorosko

Town officials are rethinking the initial concept behind the Hawleyville sanitary sewer system in considering whether some rationale other than economic development should be the guiding force for the future expansion of that sewer system.

Unlike the central municipal sewer system, which was built to resolve groundwater pollution problems, the town built the Hawleyville sewer system to stimulate economic development.

The central sewer system started operation in 1997. The much smaller Hawleyville sewer system started operation in 2001. The central sewer system has a sewage treatment plant on Commerce Road, while the Hawleyville sewer system’s wastewater flows to the Danbury sewage treatment plant.

The Board of Selectmen met on March 29 with members of several town agencies to discuss the future expansion of the Hawleyville sewer system.

The current users of the Hawleyville sewer system include the 100-unit Maplewood at Newtown assisted-living apartment building and the 96-unit Liberty at Newtown age-restricted condominium complex, both of which are on Mt Pleasant Road. Also, the adjacent planned 178-unit Woods at Newtown age-restricted condo complex plans to connect to the Hawleyville sewer system.

First Selectman Pat Llodra said this week that Public Works Director Fred Hurley will head a town study group that will review the various issues related to expanding the Hawleyville sewer system and then report back to the selectmen on June 4.

That report would include comprehensive financial information on sewer installation in Hawleyville, she said. Also, the study would explain the advantages and disadvantages of various strategies for expanding the Hawleyville sewer system.

The prospect of residential development in Hawleyville also would be reviewed. Having been built as a stimulus for economic development, the Hawleyville sewer system always had been seen by the town as a mechanism to foster commercial growth in that area.

The sewer study would consider whether it would be necessary, at a minimum, to get a developer’s commitment to build a commercial project that would require sewers before the Hawleyville sewer system would be expanded to serve that project.

At the March 29 session, Mr Hurley said that a large, undeveloped land parcel located south of the eastbound lanes of Interstate 84, near Exit 9, has always been considered the site which when commercially developed would spur the expansion of the Hawleyville sewer system.

Mr Hurley estimated that expanding the Hawleyville sewer system to its potential size, plus installing a required sewage pumping station, could cost between $4 million and $5 million. In 2007, the estimated price for that expansion was about $3.8 million, he said.

The M-2A (Industrial) zoning designation for that undeveloped acreage near Exit 9 would allow land uses such as a hotel and conference center to be built there, said Lilla Dean, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

Other uses allowed in the M-2A zone include: office buildings, light industrial development, indoor/outdoor recreational sports facilities, and research and development facilities. Retail and service businesses are permitted there as accessory uses.

Ms Dean noted that in the past, the P&Z had approved the construction of a large recreational sports facility off Mt Pleasant Road, west of Whippoorwill Hill Road, but that the project was never constructed in light of the Newtown Youth Academy sports facility being built at Fairfield Hills.

Ms Llodra said that the Exit 9 area is the last interchange along I-84 without significant commercial development. She said that the lack of sanitary sewers near Exit 9 has delayed that area’s commercial development.

George Benson, town director of planning and land use, said that various land developers have approached the town concerning projects for the Exit 9 area, but have wanted a commitment from the town that sewers would be extended to that area.

“It really has been a stumbling block,” he said of the lack of sewers in that area in terms of its potential development.

The Exit 9 area is the place where future local commercial development would occur, he said, adding that the absence of sewers there has prevented such development from happening.

Mr Benson said, however, the source of funding for extending sewers to that area is unclear.

Mr Hurley said that the town successfully prevented the construction of Avalon Bay Communities’ 1999 proposal for a 304-unit rental apartment complex known as Avalon at Newtown at the 40-acre site that is now occupied by the age-restricted Liberty at Newtown condo complex.

Avalon withdrew its application after encountering difficulty in obtaining approval for municipal sewer service for the project. At that time, the Hawleyville sewer system had yet to be built.

It is unclear whether the town today would be able to stop such a residential project from being built in Hawleyville, Mr Hurley said.

Mr Hurley suggested that town consider changing its rationale for having a Hawleyville sewer system from the stimulus of economic development to the resolution of groundwater pollution problems.

Rob Sibley, deputy director of planning and land use, said that there are some environmentally marginal commercial septic systems located along Mt Pleasant Road, west of its intersection with Hawleyville Road. That area contains wetlands soil and a high water table.

The installation of sanitary sewers would be the long-term solution for any groundwater pollution problems in that area, Mr Hurley said.

Town Attorney David Grogins said that if the town were to limit an expanded Hawleyville sewer system to serving commercial/industrial users, it is unclear if the town could prevent an “affordable housing” complex from connecting to such an expanded sewer system.

In Sandy Hook Center, Dauti Construction, LLC, of Danbury is constructing Edona Commons, a 26-unit condo complex that is planned to contain eight units of affordable housing. Dauti gained approval to build the project after the Connecticut Supreme Court decided to let stand a state Appellate Court decision which found that the town had illegally prevented Dauti from connecting its then-proposed project to the central municipal sewer system.

Elizabeth Stocker, director of economic and community development, said the town has reached a point at which it should consider whether it should embrace affordable housing projects, when considering how little such housing exists locally. The benefits of such growth should be considered, she said.

Diversity of housing types is a “very sensitive” issue, but needs to be considered, Ms Llodra said.

Ms Dean suggested that town officials reinterpret in innovative ways existing statistical information concerning a Hawleyville sewer system expansion.

Ms Dean noted that the P&Z has approved several commercial projects for the Mt Pleasant Road area in Hawleyville that have never been constructed.