Grace Christian Fellowship-Church Construction Proposal Slated For Wetlands Hearing

By ANDY GOROSKO

Published: May 19, 2006 12:00 am

Grace Christian Fellowshipâ

Church Construction Proposal Slated

For Wetlands Hearing

By Andrew Gorosko

Grace Christian Fellowshipâs proposal to construct a new 29,503-square-foot church off Hawleyville Road (Route 25) is scheduled for a public hearing by the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) next week. The session is slated for 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 24, at the town offices at 31 Peckâs Lane.

The hearing will focus on steps to be taken to protect the wetlands and watercourses on the church-owned 13.7-acre site, which has an address of 4 Covered Bridge Road. The congregationâs existing church is located about one mile away at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6).

Site development aspects of the church construction project would be subject to an upcoming review by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

Attorney Camille DeGalan of Danbury is representing the church before the IWC.

Town Conservation Official Rob Sibley said this week the development site is an environmentally sensitive location amid wetlands and watercourses. A section of Pond Brook is near the development site. Pond Brook carries water from Taunton Pond to the Lake Lillinonah section of the Housatonic River.

Although the site has an address of 4 Covered Bridge Road, access to the property would be provided by a driveway extending directly from Hawleyville Road, Mr Sibley said. The church driveway would be located on the west side of Hawleyville Road, just south of the Exit 9 off-ramp of eastbound Interstate 84.

A Covered Bridge Road section, which now serves as a private driveway, formerly was a public road, Mr Sibley noted.

The vacant site has R-2 (Residential) zoning. Proposed construction would take approximately nine months.

Aspects of the project requiring wetlands review include the proposed construction of a bridge crossing above wetlands, and also the positioning of a church accessway and parking lots within areas that are regulated by the IWC.

The site is currently undeveloped except for several small outbuildings and a section of the former Covered Bridge Road, the church states in its development application to the IWC.

The development proposal includes the construction of a church, parking areas, driveways, and a stormwater detention basin for drainage control. Wastewater would be discharged into a large septic waste disposal system.

The site has varied topography, including woodlands, lawns, and planted areas.

âCareful consideration was taken to develop the property in a manner that minimizes wetlands impacts,â the church states in its IWC application.

Artel Engineering Group, LLC, of Brookfield is the engineering consultant for the project.

Grace Christian Fellowship began operations in Newtown in 1984. The growing congregation is pursuing the construction of a new church because it has outgrown its 174 Mt Pleasant Road church. The existing church is located in what was formerly known as Essex House, a catering hall that was built in the late 1950s, which the church purchased in 1991.

Grace Christian Fellowship is an interdenominational church affiliated with the RHEMA Ministerial Association International.

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Thank you for your service and thank you Brandon Moore. I come from a family of veterans that goes back decades. I am grateful for their sacrifice and have advocated for their rights, as an attorney. There is such a divide between the demands of military service and civilian everyday life that many do not appreciate. I watched my oldest brother manage the two cultures. In the current political climate, I want someone with a long track record of community advocacy that addresses the needs of the Newtown elderly, students, young families, the growing costs of everyday living expenses, gun violence, food insecurity, division amongst groups, long term strategizing for economic development and improvement of quality of life. I have lived in Newtown five years and still do not know all there is to know in order to address the needs of neighbors. Michelle has lived in Newtown for sixteen years and has a record of fighting for the needs of the entire community. At this moment in our existence that is the type of fighter that we need and that is why I am grateful for Brandon Moore's service but my family and I support Michelle Ku and hope that she will be the State Representative and that Brandon Moore will be involved in moving the needs of the Newtown community forward, with the rest of us learning the needs of the community.

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Grace Christian Fellowship-Church Construction Proposal Slated For Wetlands Hearing

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