Date: Fri 19-Jul-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Neighborhoods-Coalition-land

Full Text:

Neighborhoods Coalition Seeks To Level The Land Use Playing Field

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Members of the Newtown Neighborhoods Coalition met Tuesday night in Edmond

Town Hall to map strategies and tactics for the group's drive to limit and

shape future residential growth to maintain the local quality of life.

Of particular interest to the group was a new state law that may give them

more leverage in the local land use review process.

Jack McGarvey, head of the Rocky Glen Area Association and a coalition member,

explained aspects of a recent state law which allows concerned parties to

become "intervenors" in the town's subdivision review process. The intervenor

status provides the third party with access to all pertinent documents and

reports in a development application for a nominal charge.

Eric Roundy, vice president of the Rocky Glen Area Association, said that

while developers are well-organized when they present construction proposals

to the town, citizens groups have little time to organize after a proposal is

submitted. He termed the situation "an unlevel playing field" which the new

intervenor status has been helping to "level."

The P&Z has granted intervenor status to residents who live in the area of the

proposed 16-lot Whispering Pines subdivision in Sandy Hook on 26 acres, and

also to residents who live in the area of the proposed 10-lot Tamarack Woods

subdivision off Tamarack Road on 33 acres.

Mr Roundy said both subdivision proposals will be the subject of P&Z public

hearings on July 18. The hearings were scheduled to be held after the deadline

for this edition of The Bee.

What transpires at the July 18 hearings likely will lay the groundwork for how

future subdivision proposals will be handled by the town, Mr Roundy said in

urging coalition members to attend the session.

Mr McGarvey objected to the Whispering Pines proposal, saying it should be

trimmed down to a 10-lot, or even a 7-lot proposal. The P&Z rejected an

initial 19-lot version of Whispering Pines in April.

"If Whispering Pines is passed by the P&Z, Newtown is `duck season'," for

developers, he said.

If Whispering Pines or Tamarack Woods or Wedgewood is approved by the P&Z, the

coalition will have to raise money to file legal challenges against such

approvals, according to Mr Roundy.

The coalition really must take a firm stand if any of the three proposed

subdivisions are approved, he stressed. Unless the coalition can generate

money and emotional drive to challenge such possible subdivision approvals,

the group would amount to a "paper tiger," he said.

"It's difficult because the monied interests are against us, and that's

tough," he added.

There are about 250 voters in the Rocky Glen area of Sandy Hook who are angry

about the Whispering Pines project, according to Mr McGarvey.

Several coalition members expressed concerns about the Conservation

Commission's decision-making process, questioning the qualifications of its

members who decide on granting wetlands construction permits. The coalition

members also questioned whether Conservation Commission members adequately

review wetlands construction proposals.

Mae Schmidle of the Tamarack Woods Association said coalition members could

bring their concerns about the Conservation Commission to the town's Charter

Revision Commission. Making the Conservation Commission an elective body

rather than an appointive one would make its membership more responsive to the

public, she said.

Mr McGarvey said the 15-lot Wedgewood subdivision proposed by M&E Land Group

for 28 acres of Taunton Hill Road contains some areas which are very wet and

unsuited for development. The Conservation Commission granted M&E a wetland

construction permit on July 10. The development proposal is pending before the

P&Z.

The proposed access to the site is on top of a hill in an area with double

curves in the road, making for questionable vehicular sight lines, he said.

Cars speed on the road, he added. The developers are proposing some one-acre

rear lots for the land, he said. Developing the site will cause a huge amount

of water run-off, according to Mr McGarvey He suggested residents in the area

of the proposed development probably will have to hire an environmental

specialist to review the project.

A Question of Aggression

Mr McGarvey posed a philosophical question. How aggressive should the

coalition become in pursuing its goals?

Members responded that the group should become a bona fide watchdog over the

local development process.

Lilla Dean of Hawleyville, of the North Newtown Homeowners Association, said

elected officials are responsive to political pressure, recalling the

association's 1995 drive which defeated the proposed Connecticut Exposition

and Performing Events Center exhibition hall in Hawleyville.

Attending meetings in large numbers is an effective tool in dealing with

development proposals, she said. Group action is necessary, she added.

Activism is hard work, she said. "This (work) is kind of grinding. If we want

to win, we've got to do it."

At that point, some coalition members recommended that Mr McGarvey become a

member of the P&Z to bring the coalition's point of view to that agency.

Mr McGarvey responded that the coalition is his "cause" now, not P&Z

membership.

Mr McGarvey, a Democrat, said he might run for the first selectman's seat in

the future.

Kurt Gillis of Jeremiah Road said the town's land use regulations are very

inadequate. He said that he and other coalition members are reviewing other

towns' rules and are developing proposed new regulations for Newtown. He said

he hopes to put together some proposed rule changes in a matter of weeks.

The coalition has been circulating a petition seeking a subdivision

moratorium. The petition states that rapid residential growth has caused:

sharply higher taxes; overcrowded schools; a strained town infrastructure;

strained town services; depressed values and a stagnating market for existing

homes; the loss of local rural character; domestic well water problems; and

groundwater pollution.