Date: Fri 09-Aug-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SUPERE

Quick Words:

P&Z-subdivision-Dodgingtown

Full Text:

10-Lot Subdivision In Dodgintown Approved

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The town has approved construction of a 10-lot residential subdivision, known

as Pinnacle Ridge, on the sweeping curve on Route 302 in Dodgingtown near the

Rock Ridge Country Club.

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members approved the subdivision on

August 1 in a 4-to-1 vote, with member John DeFilippe dissenting, citing

traffic concerns.

At a July 18 public hearing, many residents living near the 14-acre site told

P&Z members that a subdivision there will make an already dangerous traffic

area even more dangerous.

In discussing the subdivision application, P&Z member Stephen Koch said a

sedimentation basin planned to regulate storm water flow off the site will be

very visible to the motoring public on the sweeping curve on Route 302 and

would pose a potential visual, safety hazard. Such large drainage structures

typically aren't situated in plain sight, he said.

Mr DeFilippe he understands the concerns over worsened traffic hazards in the

area expressed by nearby residents at the public hearing.

"I can see their concerns," he said. The proposed development could endanger

the public safety in the area, he said.

P&Z member Heidi Winslow said the development site has access problems, but

noted that the planned road into the subdivision is an area that's less

hazardous than other possible entryways.

Traffic in the area doesn't adhere to the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit, posing

traffic problems, she said.

When a vote was taken on the development project, Ms Winslow and members

Thomas Paisley, Daniel Rosenthal and Mr Koch voted in favor, with Mr DeFilippe

in opposition.

Newtown Development Group, LLC, plans Pinnacle Ridge for the 14-acre site on

Route 302 bounded on the north and east by the Rock Ridge Country Club golf

course and on the south and west by Route 302. The developers plan to build a

650-foot-long, dead-end street, called Pinnacle Drive, to serve the

development. The street would run roughly parallel to the driveway that serves

the golf course.

The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) sold 11 acres of the 14-acre

parcel earlier this year to Mary Ann Murtha and Beverly Setz for the

development project. The principals in Newtown Development Group are Thomas

and Mary Ann Murtha of Boggs Hill Road, and Beverly and Jim Setz of Poverty

Hollow Road.

At the July 18 public hearing on Pinnacle Ridge, Mark Danuszar of Westport,

who owns property on Floral Heights Road, said Route 302 in the area of the

proposed development is a "speedway" which has been the site of many accidents

in recent years due to its hazardous nature. Route 302 in the area makes a

sharp, banked curve between Rock Ridge Road and the George's Restaurant.

Paula Moliver of 1 Floral Heights Road termed the roadway in the area "a very

dangerous intersection in good weather, let alone bad weather." Ms Moliver

presented P&Z members with a list of police reports concerning 30 accidents

with injuries that occurred in the area between May 1989 and May 1996. Ms

Moliver submitted a petition to the P&Z bearing the names of people opposed to

the development project.

Larry Edwards, the developers' engineer, has told P&Z members the developers

will seek to re-subdivide one lot on the parcel in the future, resulting in a

total of 11 lots. Such a re-subdivision would require a wetlands construction

permit from the Conservation Commission.