P&Z Rejects Subdivision In Riverside

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has rejected a proposal to create an eight-lot residential subdivision on land south of the private dead-end Alpine Circle in the Riverside section of Sandy Hook.

P&Z members voted 4-to-1 June 1 to reject the development application. Voting in opposition were Stephen Koch, Heidi Winslow, James Boylan, and Robert Taylor. Chairman Daniel Fogliano dissented in the vote. The 13.6-acre site lies in an R-1 zone.

Mr Fogliano told P&Z members that he had walked the property and considered the merits of the application, deciding that the proposal complies with town land use regulations and should be approved. “It does conform to all our zoning regulations, whether we like it or not,” he said. He said, though, he does not like the extensive amount of earth moving that would be needed to create a road to serve the eight proposed homes.

Ms Winslow, however, pointed out that the application does not conform to land use regulations concerning dead-end roads.

Mr Fogliano observed that under the development plan, the proposed new 760-foot-long Old Wagon Road would eventually become a town road, as would the currently private Alpine Circle from which Old Wagon Road would extend.

Ms Winslow pointed out that the land use regulations do not allow the P&Z to approve the construction of a public road that is not connected to another public road.

Mr Fogliano said that under the development plan proposed by the applicant, the developer, Excelsior, Inc., would upgrade Alpine Circle to be accepted as a town road before Old Wagon Road would be built for the Old Wagon Estates subdivision.

Ms Winslow said it is unclear who currently owns Alpine Circle.

“If we turn this [application] down, the applicant is really in a severe dilemma. He’d have to find another access way to this property,” Ms Winslow said.

Excelsior, Inc., submitted its application for Old Wagon Estates before the P&Z revised its land use regulations to explicitly state the number of homes which are permitted on a dead end street. The revised dead-end street regulations would prohibit the subdivision, which has been proposed by Excelsior.

P&Z members then voted on a motion to reject Old Wagon Estates, turning down the application because the land use regulations do not allow the construction of a subdivision on what would be a private road.

In an earlier version of Old Wagon Estates, the developer had suggested eventually linking the proposed Old Wagon Road to Jeremiah Road, either via Stone Gate Drive or Morgan Drive. 

Following the Conservation Commission’s approval of a wetlands construction permit for Old Wagon Estates earlier this year, resident Mary McNee of 25 Alpine Circle sued the Conservation Commission and Excelsior over the commission’s allowing Excelsior to cross wetlands with a road and two driveways in connection with subdivision construction. Ms McNee claims the construction would irreparably harm wetlands, watercourses, and underground water supplies.