Date: Fri 03-May-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Whispering-Pines-develop

Full Text:

Developers Consider A Revised `Whispering Pines' Project

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

PSD Partnership is considering submitting a revised version of its proposed

Whispering Pines residential subdivision to the town in which the number of

building lots would be cut and the amount of excavation would be decreased.

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members last month rejected an earlier

version of Whispering Pines, citing concerns over excavation, drainage,

erosion, sedimentation and grading.

PSD members and four members of the P&Z met in an informal planning session

April 29 at which the developers and commissioners traded ideas on how to make

the construction plans less objectionable to nearby residents.

When PSD proposed 19 lots for 26 acres in Sandy Hook in the vicinity of Cherry

Street, Pine Street and Narragansett Trail at an April 4 public hearing, the

development plan drew strong protests from people living in the area.

The developers are now considering a subdivision that would include 16 lots on

26 acres. Also, the amount of excavation needed for the project would be

reduced from approximately 50,000 cubic yards to 38,000 cubic yards.

To get the proposed subdivision down to 16 lots, the developers would

eliminate two of 15 lots on the proposed Miya Road, and eliminate one of four

lots on Narragansett Trail.

"We have reduced some of the sloping," said Larry Edwards, a land engineer who

is a PSD partner.

Mr Edwards said the developers will meet with residents in the area of the

proposed subdivision to discuss their concerns about the construction

proposal.

At the April 4 public hearing, those residents said building Whispering Pines

would damage their well water supplies, worsen existing traffic hazards in the

area, and put strains on the public school system.

PSD Partnership isn't interested in building a subdivision that will make

conditions worse for residents in the neighboring area, said Thomas Maguire, a

PSD partner.

Of PSD's proposal to cut the amount of earth material taken from the site from

50,000 cubic yards to 38,000 cubic yards, P&Z Chairman Stephen Adams said

"You've gone a long way (toward) reducing the amount of material to be

removed. Can you make it any less?"

Mr Edwards replied he doesn't know of a way to take less than 38,000 cubic

yards of material from the site in light of town regulations concerning slope

grading and sight lines for traffic.

Sand Pit

P&Z member Heidi Winslow asked the developers about safety hazards posed by a

large sand pit on the property.

Mr Edwards acknowledged there's a safety issue involved with the pit's

presence, but added the pit is not located on the parcel's property line.

"There's always going to be a (sand) face that you're working on that's

steep," he said.

"Aren't you creating a steeper slope" by continuing to remove material from

the site, Ms Winslow asked.

Mr Edwards acknowledged that is the case, but added when the sand excavation

is finished, the slope will be less steep. The finished grade will be a 2-to-1

slope, which is similar to the slopes alongside Interstate highways, he said.

"We don't have a (mining) operation going on," Mr Maguire said. "We do it

(excavate) a little bit as we need it over time," he said of the developers'

removal of sand from the site.

"It's basically a one-man operation," he added.

"This is not a ruse for a sand and gravel mining operation," said Attorney

Robert Hall, representing the developers.

PSD has received approval from the town to remove up to 7,770 cubic yards of

earth materials, excluding topsoil, from the site to prepare it for the

construction of one house. So far, an estimated 4,000 cubic yards of material

has been transported from the site.

In removing sand from the site, PSD isn't doing anything wrong and is meeting

town regulations, Mr Maguire said.

Mr Maguire said he erected "No Trespassing" signs near the sand pit on April

26.

Mr Maguire expressed displeasure that residents of the Cherry Street/Pine

Street area use the development site for recreation. The trespassers use the

land like they own it, he said. He asked how children can be expected to stay

off the property when their parents trespass on it.

"It's getting a little tiresome. It's our property," he said.

Of tree cutting on the land, Mr Maguire said "We don't take (down) one tree

that we don't have to take down. It costs us money to take trees down."

Besides, the developers plan to promote Whispering Pines as a woodsy place to

live in Newtown, he said.

Under a 16-lot subdivision plan, approximately 10 acres of the 26 acres on the

site would be cleared of trees, according to Mr Edwards.

Mr Edwards asked if a 16-lot development is approved and built, whether the

developers would be able to request a re-subdivision of property from the P&Z

to increase the number of lots.

P&Z members, however, asked that the proposed development's lot lines be drawn

so that the property can't be re-subdivided in the future.

Neighbors' Concerns

Ms Winslow questioned whether the various public concerns voiced over the

development project can ever be resolved.

"I don't think there's anything you're going to do that's going to make the

neighbors happy," she said.

Mr Edwards said the developers mailed notices of the April 4 public hearing on

Whispering Pines to 85 property owners who live within 500 feet of the site.

He said he's never encountered so many people living so close to a development

that he's designed. Satisfying 85 people is going to be virtually impossible,

he said.

Mr Edwards said he was surprised that the 19-lot development proposal received

the vocal opposition that it did.

Mr Adams pointed out that in submitting a home building proposal for the land,

the developers will always face one major, recurring concern of residents -

whether the wells drilled for new homes will deplete meager existing

underground water supplies in that area.

"I don't know how you get around it. It's a sensitive issue in every town,

everywhere you go," Mr Edwards said.

Mr Edwards noted that the housing density in the Cherry Street/Pine Street

area is likely the highest density in town. But, he added, the proposed

development meets the town's land use regulations.

"I don't know how you're going to solve and answer (residents') questions," Mr

Edwards said, adding he doesn't know if such answers can ever be provided.

"There isn't a heck of a lot that we can do. We don't have any hard info"

regarding how drilling new wells in the area would affect existing wells, Ms

Winslow said.

"It's a random shot. It's really a random shot," Mr Edwards said of the

complexity of hydrology and unpredictability of underground water supplies.

PSD Partnership hasn't yet submitted a revised subdivision application to the

P&Z for Whispering Pines. Such a submission would be followed by a another

public hearing on the proposal.