Neighbors Express Concerns About Newtown Hunt Subdivision

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are reviewing a 21-lot residential subdivision proposed by a major home developer for a broad wet area in the Pond Brook watershed in Hawleyville.

At an April 20 public hearing, Toll Brothers, Inc, explained its revised plans for Newtown Hunt, envisioned for 114 acres west of Hawleyville Road and east of Farrell Road. Much of the site is wetlands.

Two Hawleyville residents living near the site expressed concerns about the effects that building 21 homes in the area would have on the quality and quantity of water in Pond Brook, a stream that drains from Taunton Pond to Lake Lillinonah via Hawleyville. Pond Brook runs across the Newtown Hunt development site.

Resident Sandra DeGraff of 64 Pond Brook Road said she is concerned that development might cause low water levels in the brook. Ms DeGraff expressed concern about fertilizer use on the development site and the adverse effect that it might have on brook water quality.

Resident Alexander Clark of 1 Obtuse Road South said he is concerned that creating a pond on the Newtown Hunt site might drop water levels in Pond Brook and damage its water quality. The stream runs across his property just downstream of the development site.

Engineer Mark Lancor of Dymar Engineering of Monroe, representing Toll Brothers, said the Newtown Hunt site is only a small portion of the Pond Brook watershed. Development proposed for the site is specifically designed to protect water quality downstream in Pond Brook, he said.

 Toll Bothers cooperated with the town Conservation Commission, the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the US Army Corps of Engineers in designing the project, he said.

The development would not adversely affect the water quality or quantity in Pond Brook, he said.

The developer proposes building 15 houses on two new internal streets on the site. About one-half mile of new road would be constructed. Four houses would be constructed on Farrell Road and two houses would be built on Hawleyville Road. About 1,400 feet of Farrell Road would be improved to provide better access to the four new houses on that street. Lots would range in size from 2 to 5.4 acres. Access to the site would be from the west side of Hawleyville Road, north of the Hawleyville post office.

In a letter to the P&Z, the Town of Brookfield urged that traffic signals be placed at the intersection of Currituck, South Obtuse and Hawleyville roads to handle added traffic flow stemming from the proposed subdivision.

In a letter to the P&Z, Shelby McChord of Greenleaf Farms Road in Poverty Hollow said Toll Brothers should honor its past agreement to provide public access easements to Huntington State Park in that area. Toll Brothers should be required to correct access problems from the Greenleaf Farms subdivision to the state park before proceeding with the Newtown Hunt project, Ms McChord wrote.

The Toll Brothers’ development application for Newtown Hunt was the subject of a P&Z public hearing in March at which P&Z members reviewed reports from town staff members, who had found numerous deficiencies with the development application.

Mr Lancor provided revised plans to P&Z members April 20 that addressed those criticisms.

Last October, the Conservation Commission approved the 21-lot development proposal, having rejected Toll Brothers’ earlier plans, which called for 26 houses on the site, plus the placement of a 20-foot-thick layer of fill over wetlands.

In assembling its development application, Toll Brothers is combining several land parcels.  The site lies primarily in an area with two-acre minimum residential zoning.

The Algonquin and Iroquois natural gas transmission pipelines run through the development site. The site has a varied landscape with fields, thickets, hedgerows, brooks, excavated ponds, wetlands, and watercourses. Some of the site is flat while other portions are steep and rocky. The developer proposes a trail system and open space network.

The Newtown Hunt site is the area where Joy Brewster had proposed construction of the sprawling, controversial Connecticut Exposition and Performing Events Center (CEPEC) in 1995. After heavy protests from Hawleyville residents, the P&Z rejected proposed zone changes that would have allowed Ms Brewster to proceed with planning for the CEPEC project.

P&Z members are expected to act on Newtown Hunt at an upcoming session.