Head Of Meadow Estates Subdivision Approved

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have approved a five-lot residential subdivision known as Head of Meadow Estates for a 21-acre site near the intersection of Boggs Hill Road and Head of Meadow Road.

On July 7, P&Z members unanimously approved Head of Meadow Estates for Donald Ferris, in care of James O’Hara. The site is on the west side of Boggs Hill Road, lying south of the intersection of Boggs Hill Road and Head of Meadow Road. The layout of the development will not require any new road construction.

A house that has been built on Boggs Hills Road immediately south of that intersection is the “first cut” from the land parcel, and thus is not considered part of the five-lot subdivision application.

The site has R-2 and R-3 zoning, which require minimum residential lot sizes of two acres and three acres, respectively. Approximately five acres of the site are wetlands.

The P&Z initially reviewed the development project in March 2003. The developer withdrew the application in April 2003, saying he would revise the development proposal.

In March 2003, some P&Z members and nearby residents had questioned why the developer proposed providing a fee in lieu of open space to the town, instead of providing publicly accessible open space on the site for passive forms of recreation. Such fees are used by the town to acquire open space elsewhere.

Also, in March 2003, the project drew concerns from some nearby residents, who said they fear that building five houses in the area would adversely affect the neighborhood’s rural character.

Factors such as “neighborhood character” are considered when the P&Z reviews applications for “special exceptions” to the zoning regulations, but not subdivision applications.

In approving Head of Meadow Estates on July 7, the P&Z required that an overall fee in lieu of open space of $51,700 be paid to the town incrementally as the five lots in the subdivision are sold. A fee of $10,340 would be paid to the town as each of the five lots are sold.

The P&Z is requiring the developer to post a performance bond in the amount of $34,800 to cover the installation of a 30,000-gallon underground water storage tank for firefighting; the installation of building lot pins and monuments, and the installation of conservation easement markers.

The P&Z is requiring the developer to permanently field mark the conservation easements on every lot in the subdivision before any building permits are issued in order to allow potential homebuyers to identify those easement areas where site alterations are prohibited.