Date: Fri 13-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Hawleyville-HVCEO-economic

Full Text:

Residents Hope To Influence Economic Plan For Hawleyville

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Before any more studies are done on the future of economic development in

Hawleyville, residents of the area have made it clear that they will only

tolerate land use which is in harmony with the surrounding land, its rural

character and the wishes of the people.

About 100 residents gathered Wednesday night in the middle school cafeteria to

hear an overview of this plan to develop a transportation planning and

engineering review of the Exit 9 area from the study team from Barakos-Landino

Design Group of Hamden.

Neighbors, some fearing the development would adversely affect the area by

bringing in traffic, also gathered to make their preferences known to the

researchers as they look closely at the area's economic potential.

The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) wants to the study

to look ahead at what could happen in the area in terms of development, so it

doesn't have to merely react when development does occur.

The study is expected to make projections on what kinds of uses would be

suitable for the area, as well as the intensity and character of those uses,

but as researchers pointed out, the decision as to what is ever developed in

Hawleyville rests solely with the community.

Ted Rudisill of 17 Butterfield Road, who spoke on behalf of the North Newtown

Homeowners' Association (NNHA), said several issues, including traffic and the

environment, must to be addressed before any kind of land use action is taken.

"The land use should be in general conformance with the current Connecticut

State Conservation and Development Policies Plan," he said.

As Barakos-Landino officials have discovered, Hawleyville is an area with

several natural features that could make development difficult, including

wetlands and plenty of steep slopes. Residents of the area claim that it has a

fragile aquifer system, which often produces low levels of water to wells and

may create problems with waste water disposal.

Traffic is of immense concern to those who reside in Hawleyville and Eve

Barakos-Landino said her traffic study is looking at the best way to combine

land uses to minimize the number of cars in the area. She also looked at the

number of cars that travel through the area each day and discovered the stop

signs currently found at the various intersections along Route 25, I-84 and

Route 6, need to be replaced with traffic lights.

The study has also looked at the area's market base. According to Roy O'Neil

of Barakos-Landino, the research is considering the corridor of I-84 between

Danbury and Middlebury. Using charts, he indicated that there is potential for

successful development in the area.

But, as Susan Toll of 4 Pocono Road reminded those in attendance, business in

Hawleyville may not turn out to be booming, pointing to the various empty

buildings around town.

Jean Salvador of 60 Old Hawleyville Road agreed.

"Just look at Southbury where everybody's leaving the IBM building," she said.

The research group said their study is also looking at what development would

look like from a hillside, for example, or a neighbor's backyard.

Lilla Dean of Old Hawleyville Road, president of the neighborhood group,

explained that the idea of economic development in Hawleyville concerns her

because of the wetlands surrounding the area.

"The land is very unforgiving," she explained.

Wolcott Toll of 4 Pocono Road, treasurer of NNHA, said it was his impression

that many in Newtown are concerned with open space preservation, an issue that

he said "should be thrown into the hopper," for research, as well.

Despite their concerns, neighbors say they aren't against change and recognize

the desirability of economic development and a positive tax revenue producer

in Hawleyville. However, as Mr Rudisill points out, Newtown should model

itself after towns with low tax rates.

"The five highest tax rate towns are urban centers having lower quality

housing, poorly rated school systems, large retail establishments and

extensive industrial operations," he explained. "If a low tax rate is our

objective, it makes sense to model our community after low tax rate towns. If

this is not our objective, why are we here.?"

In 1995, a proposal to build a 100,000-square-foot exposition center was

proposed for Hawleyville, but with opposition from the NNHA, the Planning and

Zoning Commission rejected the zoning amendments required to allow the plan to

proceed.

In 1990, a sewer line was extended from the Danbury sewage treatment plant to

the Newtown/Bethel town line in preparation for possible sewer extension into

Hawleyville.

The current study is funded by federal, state and regional money.