Date: Fri 13-Dec-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Whispering-Pines

Full Text:

Third Version Of Whispering Pines Submitted To P&Z

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Whispering Pines, the controversial residential subdivision proposal that

ignited a string of public protests over the pace of local residential growth

- has been resubmitted in a third version for Planning and Zoning Commission

(P&Z) review.

Developers Thomas Maguire of Newtown and Larry Edwards of Easton, doing

business as PSD Partnership, are seeking approval for a 13-lot subdivision on

26 acres near Pine Street, Cherry Street and Narragansett Trail in Sandy Hook.

Bruce and Robert Biscoe of Hawleyville also are PSD partners.

P&Z Chairman John DeFilippe said Tuesday he expects the P&Z will act on the

latest version of Whispering Pines sometime in January or February. A public

hearing won't be held on the third version of the subdivision plans, he said.

The P&Z's review of the plans will involve gauging how closely the developers

have met the conditions of approval the P&Z placed on the project in

September, he said.

In September, P&Z members had a 16-lot version of Whispering Pines pending

before them. But due to many questions about the project's design, P&Z members

aprroved only 13 of those lots and placed many conditions on that approval.

Following the P&Z's 13-lot approval, PSD Partnership sued the P&Z in Danbury

Superior Court seeking to gain a 16-lot approval. That lawsuit is still

pending.

If the P&Z approves the new 13-lot proposal, the lawsuit would be withdrawn

from court by the developers. But if the P&Z turns down the 13-lot version,

the lawsuit would remain in effect.

In the latest version of Whispering Pines, the applicants have modified their

project to address some concerns raised by the P&Z.

But a sticking point between the P&Z and the developers is the commission's

requirement that PSD not seek to "re-subdivide" sections of the development

site after an initial subdivision plan is approved. P&Z members placed the

resubdivision ban on the property to limit the potential housing density at

the site and prevent more than 13 houses from eventually being built there.

The developers, though, maintain the P&Z is stepping outside its regulatory

bounds in banning any future resubdivision of the land.

Surface mining large amounts of sand and gravel at the site was one of the

most controversial aspects of the development proposal.

PSD's 13-lot construction plans indicate it wants to remove 37,500 cubic yards

of earth materials from the site, approximately the same amount of material as

was proposed under the 16-lot plan.

In an initial 19-lot proposal, which the P&Z rejected in April, PSD wanted to

remove approximately 50,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel.

Flashpoint

Whispering Pines has been one of the most controversial residential

development projects in recent memory. The 26-acre site lies within an

established neighborhood. Unlike some new home construction projects in areas

where there are few, if any, neighbors, the Whispering Pines site is in one of

the most densely-built sections of Newtown, with 85 individually-owned parcels

lying with 500 feet of the edge of the development site.

When initially proposed as a 19-lot development in April, residents of the

neighborhood, under the banner of the Rocky Glen Area Association, organized

and loudly opposed the project. They said new development there would: damage

the environment by the removal of an excessive amount of sand and gravel from

the property; overcrowd the neighborhood; jeopardize already-unreliable well

water supplies; worsen traffic hazards; and overburden the public schools,

among other complaints. P&Z members heeded the residents' concerns and

rejected the 19-lot development project in late April, citing concerns over

drainage, sedimentation, erosion, excavation and grading.

After PSD returned to the P&Z with a scaled-down proposal involving 16 lots,

the P&Z conducted public hearings on the project in June and July. The

developers said the 16-lot proposal addressed the concerns which were raised

by the P&Z in its rejection of the 19-lot plan.

Again, residents near the development site complained loudly.

On September 5, in a 4-to-1 vote, P&Z members reduced the 16-lot project to a

project containing 13 lots.

In its lawsuit, PSD claims that in attaching the many conditions to the

Whispering Pines approval, the P&Z acted illegally, arbitrarily, and in abuse

of the discretion vested in it.

The suit claims the P&Z's ban on any future re-subdivision of land within the

proposed subdivision isn't allowed by state law or the town's subdivision

regulations.