Date: Fri 01-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Newtown-Village-hearing

Full Text:

August 7 Hearing Set On Newtown Village Plan

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Newtown Village, the controversial 96-unit housing complex proposed for Sandy

Hook, will be the subject of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public

hearing scheduled for 8 pm Thursday, August 7, at Newtown Middle School

auditorium, 11 Queen Street.

At the hearing, public comments will be sought on the proposal to build 96

single-family houses, 24 of which would be designated as "affordable housing."

The houses would be sold as condominium units under the terms of a "common

interest ownership community."

This application marks the first "affordable housing" proposal for Newtown. By

selling at least one-quarter of the houses as affordable housing, the

developers are entitled to employ a "density bonus" under which the state

encourages them to build more houses on the 32-acre site than is permitted by

town development regulations for an area with R-1 Residential zoning.

D&H Homes, LLC, of New Milford, and Fairfield 2000 Homes Corporation of

Stamford want to build Newtown Village at the site of a former sand and gravel

mine bordered on the west by the Exit 11 entrance ramp to Interstate 84, on

the northeast by Philo Curtis Road, on the south by Route 34, and on the

southeast by Bishop Circle. The site was used as a surface mine 25 years ago

during the construction of I-84. The applicants have options to buy the three

parcels which comprise the 32-acre site. Because the site has irregular

topography and steep slopes, it must be excavated and leveled for

construction, according to the applicants.

To make the site suitable for construction, the developers propose excavating

about 220,000 cubic yards of earth material and filling in the area with about

34,000 yards of material, resulting in a net removal of about 186,000 cubic

yards of material.

The site would be developed in five construction phases. Newtown Village would

be situated lower than abutting properties to minimize its visual impact.

Each house would have a garage with one or two bays. Three-quarters of the

houses would have three bedrooms. The remainder would have two bedrooms.

Twenty-one acres of the site would contains houses, roads and common areas.

The remaining 11 acres would have a detention pond, a community septic system,

wetlands and open areas.

Each yard and house would be individually owned, with the remainder of the

site commonly owned. Property owners in the development would be subject to

various ownership rules.

The developers state Newtown Village would pose no adverse effects on property

values in the area based on a real estate market analysis.

Last February, in the face of strenuous opposition from nearby property

owners, the Conservation Commission unanimously granted a wetlands

construction license for Newtown Village. At that time, the proposal included

102 houses.

The Sandy Hook Neighborhood Coalition, which was formed to oppose Newtown

Village when its wetlands application was pending before the Conservation

Commission, raised various environmental objections to Newtown Village.

In its decision, the Conservation Commission determined that the applicants

plan to take adequate steps to environmentally protect wetlands and

watercourses at and near the site.

Coalition members have expressed concerns that the P&Z will be constrained by

state regulations on affordable housing in the upcoming P&Z review of the

applicants' development plan.

Application

In their application to the P&Z, the developers seek a special exception to

the zoning regulations to build the complex.

Simultaneously, the applicants seek an amendment to the zoning regulations to

let them build a mechanized community septic system which would extract

nitrogen from wastewater before it's discharged into the ground. Current

zoning regulations don't allow "mechanized" community septic systems for

multi-family developments.

Last March, the developers sought Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA)

permission to connect the site to the town sewer system, but the WPCA opted

against the proposal.

To handle increased traffic generated by the complex during morning and

evening peak hours, the applicants propose widening sections of Route 34. The

developers also propose modifying the timing at two nearby traffic signals on

Route 34, plus synchronizing the signals to allow the maximum amount of

traffic to flow through the area.

Main access to the property would be on Route 34, just east of the Exit 11

overpass. An emergency access road would extend to the site from Philo Curtis

Road.

The site would be served by a United Water service line built at the

developers' expense. Yankeegas would provide natural gas. The water line would

provide a 1,000-gallon-per-minute flow rate for firefighters, according to D&H

Homes.

The developers maintain there's no basis for the fire marshal's having

disapproved their proposed firefighting facilities. The fire marshal wants to

reserve the right to change proposed fire hydrant placements. The fire marshal

also wants the developers to provide an independent study on how fires would

be fought at the complex and what firefighting equipment would be needed to do

so.

The 24 affordable houses proposed for Newtown Village are intended for

families which earn 80 percent or less of the state's annual median income.

For a family of four, 80 percent of the median income is about $47,680. The

maximum sale price of an affordable home would be $140,200. Fairfield 2000

would help D&H Homes in the sales and marketing of the affordable houses.

The "market value homes" in the complex would be priced closer to $200,000.

The affordable housing is subsidized by the sale of market value homes.

Houses would range in size from 1,568 square feet to 2,088 square feet.

There are fifty-five properties lying within 500 feet of the development site.

Those property owners will be notified of the P&Z's upcoming public hearing by

the developers by mail.

Copies of the development application are available for public review at the

town land use office at Canaan House at Fairfield Hills.