The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) has scheduled a public hearing for later this month on a developer’s application to construct a 74-unit housing complex on Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center.

At a March 30 meeting, IWC members agreed to hold a hearing on the proposal known as The River Walk at Sandy Hook Village at 7:30 pm, on Wednesday, April 22, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

Local developer/builder Michael Burton is seeking a wetlands/watercourses protection permit for the project from the IWC.

Also, the applicant’s request for sanitary sewer service for the proposed housing complex is slated for a Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) public hearing for 7 pm, on Thursday, April 9, at the sewage treatment plant office building at 24 Commerce Road.

Mr Burton is seeking WSA approval to reserve 9,250 gallons of wastewater treatment capacity at the sewage treatment plant for the housing complex. The development site lies within the sewer district.

Besides WSA and IWC approvals, the River Walk project also would need approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and the Aquifer Protection Agency (APA).

The 11.8-acre site at 10 to 22 Washington Avenue would include an affordable housing component.

Mr Burton is proposing the project under the terms of the Incentive Housing-10 Overlay Zone (IH-10), a zoning designation that was recently created by the P&Z.

In January 2009, Mr Burton gained P&Z approval to construct The River Walk, a proposed 24-unit multifamily complex on 10.2 acres at 12 through 20-A Washington Avenue. The economic downturn, however, prevented that project from being constructed. The earlier proposal was approved under the terms of the Affordable Housing Development (AHD) zoning regulations.

In January 2009, when the earlier River Walk proposal gained P&Z approval, no one attending a lengthy public hearing voiced any opposition to that 24-unit proposal.