Date: Fri 09-May-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Avalon-Rowledge-Pond

Full Text:

New Plans Submitted For Avalon Subdivision

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The developers of Avalon, a 13-lot residential subdivision proposed for 54

acres off High Bridge Road, have submitted the second version of their

development project for Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) consideration.

P&Z members took no action on the application following the May 1 public

hearing.

The P&Z was scheduled to act on the project May 8, after the deadline for this

edition of The Bee.

Last year, Avalon Developers, LLC, proposed the development of a 16-lot

subdivision, with the potential for a total of 17 lots.

But controversy over environmental issues between nearby property owners and

the developers resulted in the number of proposed lots being reduced.

A small portion of the development site lies in Monroe. Monroe land use

officials informed P&Z members that the section of Avalon lying in Monroe will

be considered "excess acreage" by Monroe and not building lots.

The Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency, of which Monroe is a member

town, voted not to endorse the subdivision application because the paperwork

submitted to it on the project lacked engineering data.

In a technical review of the Avalon plan, Town Engineer Ronald Bolmer didn't

endorse the project for various technical reasons.

Engineer Charles Spath, representing Avalon, addressed the various technical

issues raised by Mr Bolmer, explaining that the development plans submitted to

the P&Z meet all requirements for a subdivision.

There are many developmental changes in the current version of the application

compared to the earlier version, Mr Spath said.

The current version of the application has much more detailed plans for the

treatment of stormwater discharged from the development site, he said. Also, a

conservation easement favoring Rowledge Pond, Inc, has been created along the

edge of the site, he said.

Avalon Developers are seeking to prevent any negative environmental effects on

nearby Rowledge Pond, he said.

Sections of the 54-acre parcel land, which formerly had been planned for home

building, will now be given to Rowledge Pond, Inc, and the Bobowick family, Mr

Spath said. He added that the land to be donated will be earmarked as open

space for a minimum of 50 years.

Attorney James White, representing Avalon, said that since the developers

withdrew their initial application last December, they have worked out an

agreement with nearby property owners to address their environmental concerns

about residential development in the area. The developers will perform

periodic testing to monitor water quality, he said. Open space at the site

will only be used for passive recreation, he said, adding that tree cutting

and bridle trails won't be allowed. Open space, in the form of a roughly

20-acre black spruce bog, would be donated to the Newtown Forest Association,

Mr White said.

Attorney John Fallon, representing the FitzGerald and Bobowick families and

Rowledge Pond, Inc, said his clients support the revised Avalon proposal.

On April 9, the Conservation Commission granted Avalon Developers a wetlands

construction license for the proposed 13-lot subdivision.

Although the 16-lot proposal gained Conservation Commission approval last

year, the developers withdrew their plan following a December P&Z public

hearing on it at which nearby property owners objected to the development

plan. The neighbors complained that a 16-lot development would damage water

quality in the nearby Halfway River and Rowledge Pond. The pond is used as a

fish hatchery. The hatchery needs very clean water to function and a 16-lot

development would jeopardize the pond's water quality, according to the fish

hatchery's owners.