Sandy Hook Center—

Wetlands Agency OKs Redevelopment Plan

By Andrew Gorosko

Following review of a proposal to redevelop of a section of Sandy Hook Center with several commercial buildings, including a branch office of Newtown Savings Bank and a child daycare center, Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) members this week approved the wetlands/watercourses protection aspects of the project.

After brief discussion, IWC members on July 28 approved an environmental permit for developer Verdat Kala for the project proposed for properties at #2, #4, #6, and #8 Riverside Road. Mr Kala is the proprietor of The Villa Restaurant & Pizza at 4 Riverside Road.

The IWC had conducted public hearings on the project on July 14 and June 23.

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) is scheduled to discuss and possibly act on Mr Kala’s application for a special permit at an August 5 session. The P&Z conducted public hearings on the application on July 15 and June 3.

In reviewing the redevelopment application, IWC Chairman Anne Peters said July 28, “I have no further questions.” On that note, IWC members approved the project without opposition.

The agency however, placed eight conditions on its approval.

They include that: erosion and sedimentation controls be installed on the site before construction starts and be maintained during construction; the town must inspect and approve the marked limits of physical disturbance on the site before construction starts; the plans for the project cannot be changed without prior approval from the town; and an environmental management consultant must be hired by the applicant to oversee erosion and sedimentation controls on the site until the project is completed, among several other conditions.

Under the redevelopment proposal, the four parcels on Riverside Road would be combined to form one 3.2-acre site. The land abuts the intersection of Riverside Road, Washington Avenue, Church Hill Road, and Glen Road.

A prominent feature of the project would be the construction of a Newtown Savings Bank branch office at 2 Riverside Road, on the corner of Riverside Road and Washington Avenue. An existing commercial building at that address would be demolished to create a site for bank construction.

Overall, the project would involve the demolition of three existing buildings and the construction of four new commercial buildings, plus the expansion of the existing restaurant. The project would be built in two phases, with the first phase including construction of the bank and a child daycare center. Retail and office uses would come in a second phase.

Notably, the 3.2-acre site holds no wetlands and is located approximately 130 feet away from the nearest watercourse, which is the Pootatuck River.

IWC members typically review the environmental protection aspects of land which lies within 100 feet of wetlands and watercourses. That 100-foot-wide zone is known as an “upland review area.”

Rob Sibley, deputy director of planning and land use, has said that although the site is more than 100 feet away from the Pootatuck River, he decided that the IWC should review the environmental protection aspects of the redevelopment project.

The section of the property where the child daycare center would be built lies in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD).

IWC members, in their other municipal role as the town’s Aquifer Protection Agency (APA), are awaiting additional information from the applicant concerning whether the proposed redevelopment project would significantly adversely affect the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer.

After receiving that information, the APA would make a recommendation on aquifer protection to the P&Z, which would then act on the aquifer protection aspects of the construction proposal. 

Design Issues

At the P&Z’s July 15 public hearing on the redevelopment proposal, P&Z member Robert Poulin pointed out that some people are unhappy with the appearance of the bank building proposed for the site.

Mr Poulin questioned the aesthetics of the structure. “I’m very concerned that that’s going to turn out to be an unlikable thing in Sandy Hook Center,” he said.

In a May 25 letter to the P&Z, the town’s Design Advisory Board (DAB) endorsed the appearance of the proposed bank building. The DAB was created several years ago to advise the P&Z on architectural and landscape architecture issues.

The DAB found that the proposed bank’s appearance would enhance the visual appeal of the area, based on its similarities to two existing nearby brick buildings.

However, Lincoln Sander, president of the Newtown Historical Society, told P&Z members that the society dislikes the bank’s design.

Mr Sander stressed that he supports the redevelopment of Sandy Hook Center, but does not like the bank’s architectural design. The bank would be built overlooking a major intersection, he noted.

Mr Sander said the issue at hand is aesthetics, and such topics may not be under the P&Z’s control.

“I think the (bank) design is quite nice for a factory building, but we don’t want a factory building,” he said.

In response, Wesley Thompson, a member of the Economic Development Commission, said that Mr Kala’s redevelopment project would benefit the town. Such commercial redevelopment is good from a business perspective, Mr Thompson said, in urging the P&Z to approve the project.

The redevelopment site lies in the Sandy Hook Design District (SHDD) a special land use zone in Sandy Hook Center.

The SHDD zoning regulations are intended to encourage a diversity of compatible uses in Sandy Hook Center to enforce the district as a historic, mixed-use hamlet functioning as a neighborhood commercial hub, which is also attractive to visitors.

SHDD zoning regulations emphasize the value of the pedestrian scale, historic quality, and natural resources of the area. The regulations seek to encourage mixed-use development that locates dwellings near employment, shopping, and services. The SHDD regulations are intended to encourage the creation of public walkways, bicycle paths, shared off-street parking lots, and landscaped public spaces.