Date: Fri 15-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Newtown-Village-affordable

Full Text:

Developers Outline Newtown Village Plans At Hearing

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The applicants for Newtown Village, a controversial proposal to build 96

houses in Sandy Hook, presented plans for the development at a Planning and

Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing August 7.

But the amount of time needed to explain the proposal led Thomas Paisley, the

P&Z's acting chairman, to defer public comment on the matter until a second

installment of the public hearing, tentatively scheduled for August 28.

Newtown Village has been submitted for review as the town's first "affordable

housing" development, meaning that 24 of the 96 units would be designated for

families which fall below certain annual income limits. In the case of Newtown

Village, a family of four would have an income ceiling of about $47,680 to be

eligible to buy an affordable house there.

The 24 affordable houses at the complex would range in price from about

$130,000 to $140,000. The "market value houses" would range from about

$179,000 to $225,000. The sale of the market value houses subsidizes the

relatively low price of affordable houses.

As a financial incentive to create affordable housing, the state allows

developers to build such housing complexes with much higher than normal

construction densities. The site has R-1 zoning.

D&H Homes, LLC, of New Milford, and Fairfield 2000 Homes Corporation of

Stamford, want to build Newtown Village at the site of a former sand and

gravel mine bordered on the west by the Exit 11 entrance ramp to Interstate

84, on the northeast by Philo Curtis Road, on the south by Route 34, and on

the southeast by Bishop Circle. The site was used as a surface mine 25 years

ago during the construction of I-84. The applicants have options to buy the

three parcels which comprise the 31.7-acre site. The complex would have

private roads.

In their application for Newtown Village, the developers are seeking two

approvals from the P&Z.

One request seeks to have the P&Z amend its zoning regulations to allow the

developers to build a mechanically-powered community septic system. Current

zoning regulations allow community septic systems for such developments, but

don't allow mechanized systems.

The developers' other request seeks a special exception to the zoning

regulations to build 96 houses, 24 of which would be designated as affordable.

The 96 houses would be sold as condominiums.

P&Z members joined the two requests into one public hearing. But, the two

requests will be voted on separately, Mr Paisley said.

The Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency reviewed the requested zoning

amendment to allow mechanically-powered community septic systems and decided

not to support it, stating such a rule change would allow sewage treatment

facilities which are both locally unpopular and unpopular with the state

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Attorney Timothy Hollister, representing the applicants, presented additional

information on the proposal to the P&Z at the hearing.

Joseph Heyman, a consulting urban planner, objected to the submission. Mr

Heyman has been hired by the Sandy Hook Concerned Homeowners Association, a

neighborhood group comprised of nearby residents who are concerned that

Newtown Village will negatively affect them.

"I question this information being submitted to you tonight," Mr Heyman said,

adding that such information should have been placed in the P&Z application

file by the developers earlier so that it would have been available for public

review before the hearing.

Fairfield 2000

John Madeo, president of Fairfield 2000, said that organization is a

countywide, non-profit residential development corporation which was founded

to foster affordable housing. The group has developed more than 300 affordable

housing units in Danbury, Bridgeport, Stamford, Westport, Wilton and Darien,

he said. The housing complexes developed by Fairfield 2000 are considered

assets to the communities where they are built, he said.

Fairfield 2000 is committed to building quality developments, he said, adding

the proposal complies with applicable state and town development regulations.

Environmental engineer Michael Petti, of Stearns and Wheler, LLC, of Darien,

represents the applicants. Mr Petti said that in order to develop the

31.7-acre site for 96 houses, the excavation of 186,000 cubic yards of earth

materials is necessary. The developers would extend a United Water supply line

to provide drinking water for Newtown Village, he said. That water line

extension also would provide water for firefighting, he said. The developers

have had a fire protection study for the site performed as requested by fire

officials, he said.

The Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) has turned down the developers'

request to extend sanitary sewers to the site, Mr Petti said, so the

developers have proposed construction of a "mechanized" community septic

system to cleanse wastewater. However, the town zoning regulations prohibit

such systems, he added.

That prohibition and the decision by the WPCA not to extend sewers to the site

would prevent the developers from building the complex, he said.

Bill Yoakum, a landscape architect from Richter, Cegan and Webb, Inc, of Avon,

representing the applicant, said the houses planned for Newtown Village would

have front porches. Five different house models would be produced.

"It allows for a great deal of variety... Nobody's going to feel like they're

in a `cookie cutter' situation," he said.

Landscaping would be used to provide privacy between houses, he said. Several

tree varieties would be planted. The closest houses to Route 34 would lie

about 500 feet from that state highway, he said. Eleven acres of the site

would be open space. The affordable houses would be interspersed with market

value houses throughout the complex, he said.

Traffic

Traffic engineer Alan Mess, representing the applicants, said the traffic

volumes on Route 34 near the proposed entryway to Newtown Village range from

about 1,800 to 1,900 vehicles per hour during peak hours. Approximately 16,000

vehicles per day pass by the site, he said.

Approximately 1,000 daily vehicle trips would be generated by Newtown Village.

More traffic exiting the complex would travel toward Mile Hill Road than

toward Toddy Hill Road, he said.

A stop sign would be positioned at the exitway onto Route 34 to control

traffic flow. The developers propose altering the timing of traffic signals at

the intersection of Toddy Hill Road and Route 34 and the intersection of Mile

Hill Road and Route 34.

Also, the developers plan to widen short sections of Route 34 to facilitate

traffic flow.

Mr Mess noted there will always be heavy traffic on Route 34. The improvements

proposed by the developers are intended to accommodate the additional traffic

to be generated by the complex, he said.

Police Commission members asked Mr Mess August 5 whether a planned emergency

access to the site at Philo Curtis Road could be redesigned to serve as a

secondary entrance/exit for the property. The Police Commission serves as the

town's traffic authority.

Although such a secondary entrance/exit could be created, it probably would be

lightly used considering its location, Mr Mess said. He said he could support

either an emergency access at Philo Curtis Road or a secondary entrance/exit

there. The developers have proposed only an emergency accessway from Philo

Curtis Road in deference to the traffic concerns of Philo Curtis Road area

residents.

Mr Hollister, the developers' attorney, said the developers accept the

recommendations that were made in a fire protection study conducted at the

town's request.

Fire Marshal George Lockwood and Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company

Chief Bill Halstead had expressed concerns that fire protection hadn't been

adequately studied for the project, so the developers agreed to pay for a

study by a firm chosen by Chief Halstead.

As a result of that study, the developers agree to: build roads and bridges

capable of carrying an 80,000-pound aerial firefighting truck; add two fire

hydrants to those already proposed; provide a water flow rate of 1,000 gallons

per minute at fire hydrants; cooperate with fire officials; and encourage

residents of Newtown Village to become volunteer firefighters.

Bruce Hunter, a real estate appraiser representing the developers, said the

development site is currently a "teen magnet" which functions as an

"attractive nuisance," drawing teenagers to ride mountain bikes and mechanized

off-road vehicles there.

Home selling prices for 1994 to 1997 indicate that houses in Newtown Village

would sell for prices similar to houses in the area, he said.

Mr Hunter said the most comparable development to the proposed Newtown Village

is The Cornerstone in Farmington where 46 of 114 houses are designated as

affordable housing.

The presence of Newtown Village wouldn't have negative effects on nearby

properties, he said. The development would eliminate the attractive nuisance

of the former sand and gravel mine, he said.

Alagna Opposes Septic Plan

After the developers concluded their presentation at about 11:15 pm, WPCA

Chairman Peter Alagna received Mr Paisley's permission to speak.

The request to allow a "mechanized" community septic system to serve Newtown

Village seeks to eliminate an important aspect of the town's zoning

regulations, Mr Alagna said.

WPCA members share water quality goals with the state Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP), he said. The WPCA doesn't want small sewage

treatment plants created to handle wastewater at high-density developments, he

said.

If the P&Z amends its regulations to allow construction of a "mechanized"

community septic system, the WPCA will not support it, he said.

As the first installment of the hearing concluded, resident Vikki Lynn Carlson

of 1 Elana Lane said everyone in town should be concerned about the

implications of Newtown Village.

The proposal poses fire safety, traffic and excavation issues, as well as

potential groundwater contamination questions, she said.

The following day, Ms Carlson said the developers didn't address major

concerns stemming from the proposed development.

Who would want to live next to an excavation site, she asked.

Also, Ms Carlson objected to the applicants submitting additional information

to the P&Z at the August 7 hearing.

Last February, in the face of strenuous opposition from nearby property

owners, the Conservation Commission unanimously granted a wetlands

construction license for Newtown Village.