Date: Fri 10-May-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

growth-Adams-zoning

Full Text:

with cut: Local Zoning Officials Try To Cope With A Run On Newtown

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

"Affordable housing" is a relative term.

What's "affordable" in one town isn't necessarily affordable in another.

The children who grew up here may well be closed out of the new home market

due to the high costs of buying a building lot and putting up a new house.

But to people living south of here in lower Fairfield County where new home

development is even more expensive and the crowding pressures are more

pronounced, building a new home in Newtown can seem like a bargain.

Buying two acres of desirable land in Fairfield can cost $200,000 to $250,000,

but in Newtown an equal amount of property can be purchased for about $70,000,

according to Stephen Adams, chairman of the town's Planning and Zoning

Commission (P&Z).

Mr Adams, formerly of Fairfield, moved here with his wife from a rental

property about three and one-half years ago. The Adams located in a classic

old farmhouse on Great Ring Road, off Route 34 in Sandy Hook.

"We wanted land. It was affordable here," he said.

Newtown has nice land remaining, he said, noting, though, that in the time

he's been here, there have been approximately 30 new houses built within a

half-mile radius of his home.

Mr Adams notes his wife was "heartbroken" when she saw new houses popping up

across the Great Ring Road landscape.

There are some advantages, however. Mr and Mrs Adams, who are raising a small

child, find their neighborhood is full of small children, which is fun for

both the kids and the adults.

Families such as those who live in the Great Ring Road neighborhood are those

who support spending on public education, according to Mr Adams.

But not all residents in town are so keen on public education spending. Having

had their children graduate from public schools, some residents no longer

receive any direct benefit from the public school system and thus are hesitant

to support upwardly spiralling education budgets.

"I think the community thinks we (P&Z) can just say `No' to a (proposed)

subdivision," Mr Adams said. "But that's not the case."

An underlying principle in the United States is property rights, he pointed

out. An individual's right to use his or her property comes through in local

land use planning, he said. Zoning to restrict various land uses is a

relatively new concept, he said.

When a developer applies to the town for a subdivision of land, provided that

the application meets the town's land use rules, the P&Z is required to

approve the request, he said.

Also, the P&Z isn't legally allowed to take into consideration possible

negative effects that a development might have on land outside the subdivided

area, such as increased traffic, water supply depletion, and enrollment

strains on the public schools, he said.

It is only the effects that a subdivision will have on the land that is

subdivided that P&Z members are legally permitted to consider when deciding on

a development proposal, according to the P&Z chairman.

One strategy the town is exploring to rein in rapid residential growth is

"upzoning" in which the minimum building lot sizes for home construction in

various residential zones would be increased.

But, there must be valid reasons for increasing the minimum sizes of various

residential lots, such as groundwater quality protection or soil quality

protection, he said.

Beyond an "upzoning" strategy, there's no other regulatory mechanism which

could be used to reduce the number of homes built locally, he said.

It is unclear whether a type of cluster housing built in some sections of

lower Fairfield County would be applicable to Newtown's landscape, Mr Adams

said. Cluster housing "clusters" the dwelling units permitted on a given

parcel of land to both hold down construction costs, as well as leave as much

of the parcel open space land as possible.

Development Rights

In other sections of the country where county government exists, "transferred

development rights" are a possible land use planning strategy, he said. In

suburban Maryland, such development rights can be transferred among the towns

and cities within a county, providing land use planners with flexibility in

designing sensible development on a countywide basis.

Connecticut, however, eliminated county government in 1960, precluding

county-based land use development as an option.

Mr Adams said at a recent P&Z planning session that P&Z members soon will be

considering amendments to the town's land use regulations, possibly including

rules on cluster housing.

Unpleasant as it may be to neighboring property owners, if a development

application, such as a residential subdivision, meets all applicable town land

use rules, it will be approved, according to Town Engineer Ronald Bolmer. As

town engineer, Mr Bolmer reviews technical aspects of development proposals.

And there is also the NIMBY factor at play, he said.

NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) is often neighboring property owners' response to

development proposals for their areas, he said.

Cases where nearby residents opposed a development proposal but thought that

it should be built elsewhere in town included Walnut Tree Village, an 80-unit

condominium complex approved by the P&Z for Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy

Hook, and the Connecticut Exposition and Performing Events Center (CEPEC), a

100,000-square-foot exhibition hall which was rejected by the P&Z for Route 25

in Hawleyville.

Shrinking Landscape

As more development takes place in Newtown, less open space land remains,

according to Mr Adams. It would be difficult to convince residents that the

town should spend $1 million annually to acquire open space for the future, he

said.

Simply placing a moratorium on local residential development would be illegal

and would get thrown out by a judge in court, according to Mr Adams who is a

lawyer.

Requiring developers to donate more than the customary 10 percent of a

subdivision to the town or a conservation group as open space would probably

be thrown out in court, Mr Adams said, noting the courts have found a 10

percent donation to be "reasonable." But requiring a developer to donate more

land, such as 30 percent, would be viewed as "confiscatory," he said.

In the past, not all subdivision requests submitted to the town were aired at

public hearings.

But now, with increasing controversy over home construction proposals,

virtually every subdivision request is the subject of a hearing, according to

Mr Adams.

Anyone who owns property within 500 feet of land proposed for a subdivision is

notified of the hearing by the applicant.

Because much of the most easily developable local land has been built upon,

new home building proposals which are submitted for P&Z review can be

technically more challenging to build than previous projects.

Mr Adams suggests that residents interested in the shape of future development

participate in the various town subcommittees which address developmental

issues. Interested volunteers are always welcome to take part in local

government, he said.

"Stay vigilant and stay involved is the best thing you can do," Mr Adams

advised.