As a public hearing regarding a proposed 344,800 square foot warehouse moved into its third Planning & Zoning Commission hearing May 19, developer Wharton Equity Partners, LLC, offered a number of concessions in hopes of making to project more palatable to opponents and the town — including reducing the number of bay doors and putting a conservation easement on a large part of the undeveloped property.

Wharton, a New York developer, is applying for a Special Exception to the M-2A Zoning of property at 10 Hawleyville Road and 1 Sedor Lane, so as to permit the construction of a 344,880-square-foot warehouse with truck docks, trailer and vehicle parking spaces, and associated site work. According to P&Z minutes from the initial application session April 7, the proposed use is permitted in the M-2A zone with a special exception from the Planning & Zoning Commission.

The current site plan for the project calls for 76 doors, which many critics say is more a truck terminal than a long-term storage warehouse.

In an apparent reaction to public outcry, Wharton representative and attorney Tom Cody said Wharton is prepared to reduce the number of doors to 55. Additionally, with the warehouse itself located at one end versus the center of the 104 acre parcel, the developer is now proposing to place 54 of those acres, or 52% of the property, under a conservation easement.

That means more than half the site would remain woodland and open space — and can never be developed, even by future owners of the property.

While the P&Z Commission did not immediately agree to either stipulation, there is still at least one public hearing left, currently set for 7 pm Thursday, June 2. That hearing is expected to reconvene at Edmond Town Hall.

Commission Chairman Dennis Bloom said the time for intervenors to speak was over after this hearing, unless new information is presented for them to and they wish to respond. Three intervenors spoke at the May 19 hearing.

Commission alternate Brian Leonardi asked if any sound measurements had been taken at similar sites, as he had requested at both previous public hearings. Cody said that Wharton had decided it was not necessary given all the studies it had done. Leonardi then reiterated that he had requested that and asked if Wharton was unwilling to provide sound measurements.

Cody said that Wharton was unwilling to do so because it was a "significant extra expense."

Commission member George Rich said that given two hours to unload a truck and an hour to reload it, each truck has a theoretical turn around time on site of three hours. Given 24 hours of operation and 55 doors, he estimated that the site could accommodate 440 trucks per day. Cody said that Wharton "is not expecting that volume of turnover of trucks."

"This isn't a high volume shipment facility," said Cody.

However, Rich said that the commission "has to look at the worst case scenario."

"We have to look at what a building can handle and that is what we have to be prepared to accept," said Rich.

Public Comments

After two hearings mostly dominated by representatives from Wharton Industrial and intervenors opposing the project, the public had the chance to weigh in at the hearing, and roughly 30 people spoke.

No members of the public attending the hearing spoke in favor of the development. Instead, the sentiment among virtually all participants was "this project is not the right choice for this town," as resident Walker Russell articulated.

"Newtown is a small town and people love that," said Russell. "This project is not in-line with that vision."

Resident Mark D'Amico said he has worked for private equity firms, and when he does an investment thesis, it's important to look at what is proposed, "not what is being said, but to look at the potential capabilities."

"The developers might have the best interests in mind for the property and for their investment, but I don't know if they have the best interests in mind for the town," said D'Amico.

Resident Beth Holland said that if the Wharton application is approved it will "end Newtown as a quiet, charming small town," and the town will become "choked with traffic and smog."

"Once approved, Newtown will have no control over the use of the building," said Holland. "We must assume it will be used at maximum capacity."

Holland asked if this was "what Newtown wants," and said that if it is approved, "people will ask who allowed this to happen."

"Economic development is important, but this will be a monster planted in the middle of a residential neighborhood," said Holland.

Resident Ginny Alec said that Wharton can't tell the town exactly how much the warehouse might impact the town, because it doesn't know.

"They don't know who the tenant is," said Alec. "What we do know is that we have 76 - maybe 55 - doors, and that tells us a lot."

She said the project "promises an abundance of negative consequences."

"This proposal will irreversibly change this town," said Alec. "This project is wrong for Newtown."

Resident Margaret Soto said that Newtown was not a "city that doesn't sleep."

"Since we do sleep, we need to reject a 24/7 truck terminal," said Soto, who said that the truck traffic will "reduce the appeal" of Newtown.

Soto said that "this plan is incongruent with the suburban character of this town."

"This project runs counter to the town's collective long term goals and will negatively impact the town," said Soto.

Resident Kristen Bednarz said her fault was "having high standards" and it took her a long time to choose her home, but because she took so long, it allowed her to find Newtown.

"I was lucky to find Newtown," said Bednarz. "I believe in high quality of life."

Bednarz told the commission it had the opportunity to "put people first, especially children."

"I urge you to join me in having high standards," said Bednarz.

Resident Rory Thompson said the warehouse project has "disaster written all over it."

'There's No Return'

Resident Ross Manuzza said he is opposed to any development that could increase traffic. He asked the commission to consider putting restrictions on the truck traffic that can travel on Church Hill Road and Main Street. He said that the warehouse and increased traffic would "ruin the character of the town."

"Once built, there's no return," said Manuzza.

Resident Peter Paulos, who owns a horse farm in town, said there is "not enough lipstick to put on this pig," referring to the warehouse. He noted that the building is roughly the size of two and a half football fields.

Resident Catherine Burke said there are "100 reasons" the warehouse project "does not belong in Newtown." She said the the project is a truck terminal, not a warehouse as Wharton keeps trying to define it.

Resident Jill Wallowicz, a real estate agent, said that with an office on Main Street, she has watched traffic worsen over the last 25 years and the warehouse could potentially make that worse. She said that if trucks move through town, traffic "would be terrible and clog roads."

Resident Doreen Tremarcki questioned Wharton's projected tax impact on the town, where they estimated the warehouse would pay $1.3 million in taxes on the land and building and another $400,000 in personal property taxes.

She said that Wharton used "national averages," she said that using online sources she'd estimate that the project would bring in less than $300,000 per year in taxes, and possibly less because the developer would likely seek lower taxes because of the conservation easement. With the costs of the warehouse because of use of services and wear and tear on roads, she felt that the "costs would far exceed the potential revenue."

"Newtown's taxes will increase," said Tremarcki.

Resident Carrie Kuegler said that at 344,800 square feet, the warehouse would be "one-third the size of the Danbury Fair Mall." She said that the property would have to be graded to allow the warehouse to be built and that trucks would be daily "traversing up and down a roadway cut into a mountain."

She also said that any trucks heading toward Interstate 95 would certainly cut a route through town instead of heading onto Interstate 84.

Resident Bob Meyers, who said he is a truck driver, said any idea that truck traffic would be getting immediately on the highway is "not reality." He said that drivers would be traveling up and down Main Street, Route 25, and other town roads to get to their destinations in the quickest and shortest route possible.

He also noted that many truck drivers struggle to navigate their rigs around the flag pole at the intersection of Church Hill Road and Main Street. "Drivers who struggle to make that turn are rookies and there's going to be a lot more of them," said Meyers.

He also said that drivers that cannot immediately drop off likely won't drive around the block - they will more likely park along Hawleyville Road and idle. He said as a driver, he wouldn't turn his vehicle off. In summer, he'd want the air conditioning; in winter, he'd want the heat. So the truck would be idling and putting out emissions the entire time he'd have to wait.

At a previous meeting, Wharton Industrial representatives said the proposed warehouse was a “less intense” use of the 104 acre property than any of a long list of prior projects proposed for the property that never came to fruition.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.