On Thursday, July 17, the Planning & Zoning Commission considered a referral concerning Kent House and Shelton House at the Fairfield Hills Campus for potential mixed used residential and commercial use.

John Voket, director of the Economic Community Development Department, has been working with WinnDevelopment to hopefully rehabilitate the two building. The goal is to turn those two buildings into mixed use residential and light commercial, similar to the rehabilitation project Claris Design Build is doing at the old Taunton Press site, 63 South Main Street.

Voket told the commission, “We have been asked to request this referral from the Planning & Zoning office as part of a punch list of items that we need to move forward with the lease negotiations and eventual acquisition of Kent and Shelton House by WinnDevelopment Corp so that they can proceed with their negotiations with the first selectman.”

David Rosen, the chair of P&Z, said that the commission needs to judge if the proposal is in compliance with the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).

Alternate Commissioner Peter Schwarz then clarified, adding, “I think it’s important to point out to the commission and everybody … that this is a follow on to a referendum that we had, I believe it was 2022, where the town approved mixed use development of two of those buildings. I also think that as far as the POCD is concerned, I think that encourages mixed use development as a matter of both economic development and residential development … So I think this project furthers all those goals.”

Alternate Commissioner Don Mitchell then asked if what stood before the commission was a lease for the two buildings. Voket answered saying it would be a sale of the two buildings and the leasing of the land underneath. Mitchell asked another clarifying question, wondering if the proposal is a lease, disposition, or a sale. Voket said that the proposal is “simply asking for the referral.”

Mitchell said, “But it’s a referral of something the town wants to do … if I’m to vote to approve something, I wanna know what it is.”

Voket said that the Town and Winn have not gone into lease negotiations yet; the referral is just a box to be checked off on a list of preparations the Town needs to do to get the redevelopment of Fairfield Hills underway. He added, “We can’t begin those lease negotiations without the referral.”

Following this brief discussion, Rosen then put the referral to a vote, which passed unanimously.

Senior Living Residential District At 120 Glen Road

In other P&Z news, the commission considered two applications. Application 25.04 is for a text amendment to create an entirely new zoning district that would modify senior housing and create a community restricted to people over the age of 55 called the Senior Living Residential District (SLR). Application 25.05 is for a zone change to move the property at 120 Glen Road into this zone.

Peter Olson, an attorney at Land Use Conservation and Counsel, a law firm in Bethel, spoke first. He said that this is not a site plan application and merely a text amendment to create a new zone. Olson explained some of the changes and specifications of the amendment to the commission.

Olson said that only residential dwelling units are allowed, the pool was removed due to the town sanitarian’s concerns, there are to be no more than three units per building, and no more than two units per acre for single family homes or four units for attached single family homes.

“We worked with town staff, particularly the sanitarian, to come up with language that she was comfortable with … We expanded the sewer and septic section to make it clear what was required, and in particular, if you’re in the sewer district, you have to use sewer,” Olson reported. “We included an option to do a fee in lieu of open space.”

Greg Carnrick, owner of GRC Construction, then spoke to the commission. Carnrick said that the original conceptual design was no longer allowed with the new restrictions in the SLR district. He said that the POCD does state that Newtown needs housing for seniors but it also says that environmental protection is important to residents in town. Carnrick called the POCD “like a paradox.”

Carnrick said, “I was actually looking at one of the POCD workshops and the residents were asked, ‘What do you think are the most significant environmental issues facing Newtown? Do you know what number one was? 68% insufficient protection of open space, and as a resident, I don’t disagree with that. So, essentially, that’s why that open space requirement got added into the regulation.”

Part of the restrictions for the SLR district are that no unusable land, like steep slopes, wetlands, or vernal pools, can be used in the net acre calculations. Carnrick said that this will be the first cluster housing that takes that land out and adds in protections for open space. He added that the open space requirement for an SLR is “higher than any other option.”

Following this explanation, Carnrick then showed photos of what the previous structure looked like. He said that the house was “a hoarder’s house,” with “floor to ceiling boxes.” He then showed pictures of surrounding homes to demonstrate how his conceptual design would fit into the neighborhood.

Carnrick ended his presentation with, “Not to steal Mr Rich’s line, but you’re gonna have a hard time convincing me that these proposals aren’t an improvement over what is in the area right now … I think approval would allow me to build something that’s a far more attractive gateway into Sandy Hook than some of the alternatives.”

The commissioners than discussed the applications and asked Carnrick questions about them. Mitchell raised concerns about community versus individual septic systems and added that the town needs to do some “tweaking” to open space conservation. Mitchell also cited concerns about the property not being close to transportation or shopping centers.

Commissioner Greg Rich said, “I got a hard time getting my head around how this isn’t spot zoning. You’re asking us to create a completely new zone to suit your property that, oh, by the way, we can use in other places, but you want to use it at your property.”

Some members in the crowd uttered “thank you” to Rich.

Olson retorted, “The first thing I’ll say is that as a legal matter, spot zoning is more or less a dead concept… Second, if it did exist, what I would say is this is a residential area. We’re proposing a residential concept that is more or less in keeping with the density that is allowed.”

Rosen then opened the floor to public comment.

Public Comment

Kate Striano was the first to speak. She said, “How many houses are going to be on this property that determines how the water is going to flow, that determines the quality of life … I want to thank you for showing us the outdated pictures of our neighborhood. You did a wonderful job in clearing what that poor gentleman lived in … the neighborhood is already greatly improved, put something there that is going to continue to improve it, not townhouses that are grabbed together.”

Ed Friedman said that he did not understand the “doing away of a sewer system other than greed.”

Meagan Warnock started her comment with, “Affordable housing for seniors. I would love nothing more than that in this town … you’re missing a key point. What he’s building will not be adorable.” Warnock also said that the aquifer that serves that area of Newtown is “tapped,” and that digging more wells will put a financial and physical strain on the residents who already live there.

She also begged the commission to not take away the open space from the children in the neighborhood. She added that her kids love to ride their bikes through the paths in that area and she loves to sit on her porch and listen to the birds chirp and the kids laugh.

Thomas O’Rourke said, “If it’s a 55 plus community, there’s … increased use of pharmaceuticals, prescriptions, and especially chemotherapy. Now, if this goes into our septic systems, [they will] also get infiltrated into our wells. When this occurs, especially when it comes to more prescriptions with antibiotics, now we have the ongoing problem in the world today which is antibiotic resistance.”

O’Rourke also talked about the dangers of Glen Road and how he avoids it while running for exercise, and how he does not understand the switch from sewer to septic. He added, “We don’t need to go backwards because someone else did.”

Following the comments from the public, Olson and Carnrick responded. Olson reminded the crowd that the application is not a site application, only a text amendment to create the Senior Living Residential district as well as a zone change for the property at 120 Glen Road.

Rich told the applicant, “I still had the visions of the townhouses in my head, and I have to separate your application for the zone creation and text amendment from what you’re actually going to build. What you’re actually going to build at this point is irrelevant.”

Then, Commissioner Connie Widmann said, “I appreciate the sensitivity of the community and the neighborhood, but there is a demand for alternative type housing in our community … It seems to me that these regulations have been thoughtfully gone through and have put reasonable restrictions on the land, taken open space into consideration. If you are 55 and want to leave your large home, your options are nil in our community, whether it’s affordable or unaffordable, they just don’t exist.”

Rosen closed the public hearing. Before putting the applications to a vote, the commission held a brief discussion.

Deliberations And Voting

Rich started the conversation, “I have to say that up until this meeting, I was definitely leaning hard no. Based on what the applicant had presented to us, and considering how much it’s been ratcheted down, I’m now leaning the other way.” He said the applications were a “logical step” for the applicant to give the commission a specific site plan.

Someone from the crowd tried to ask a question, and Rosen reminded the crowd that the public hearing is closed.

Meadows then discussed his concerns about needing the zone in the first place, adding issue with the septic systems over public water and sewer being so close to Lake Zoar.

Widmann reminded the commission that the vote at hand is just over a text amendment and zone change, “In the future, we are able to question septic water runoff and approve or deny the applicant. The lot may not be sufficient once we receive an application.”

After the brief discussion, Rosen continued the voting. The motion passed for the text amendment 3-2, with Manville and Meadows against, and Widmann, Rosen, and Rich for the amendment.

Another brief discussion took place before the vote for the zone change. Meadows cited issue with proximity to Lake Zoar, saying 120 Glen Road is a “sensitive area.” Following Meadows’ concerns, Rosen continued the voting once more.

The motion passed for the zone change 3-2, with Manville and Meadows also voting against, and Widmann, Rosen, and Rich voting for the change. Before moving to the next item on the agenda, Rosen clarified that the approval is only for the zone change and no specific site plans have been approved.

Residents who attended the meeting booed the commission on their way out of the Municipal Center’s Council Chambers.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.