Date: Fri 20-Jun-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Newtown-Village-affordable

Full Text:

P&Z Gets Plans For Newtown Village

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Newtown Village, a controversial 96-unit housing complex proposed for Sandy

Hook, has been submitted for review and action by the Planning and Zoning

Commission (P&Z).

P&Z members will schedule a public hearing on the proposal. At the hearing,

comments will be sought on the proposal to build 96 free-standing,

single-family houses, 24 of which would be designated as "affordable housing."

The houses would be sold as condominium units under the terms of a "common

interest ownership community."

The application marks the first affordable-housing proposal for Newtown.

By selling at least one-quarter of the houses as affordable housing, the

developers are entitled to employ a "density bonus" under which the state

allows them to build more houses on the 32-acre site than is permitted by

normal development regulations. The area has R-1 zoning.

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

Stamford, seek 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 that comprise the 32-acre site. Because the site has

irregular topography and steep slopes, it must be excavated and leveled for

construction, according to the applicants.

To make the site suitable for construction, the developers propose excavating

about 220,000 cubic yards of earth material and filling in the area with about

34,000 yards of material. The net change on the site would be the removal of

about 186,000 cubic yards of material.

The site would be developed in five construction phases. Newtown Village would

be lower than abutting properties to minimize its visual impact.

The applicants propose building traditional-style homes in five different

styles. Each of the styles could be sited in four different ways, providing up

to 20 housing options for the site.

Each house would have a garage, with one or two bays. Three-quarters of the

houses would have three bedrooms. The remainder would have two bedrooms.

Twenty-one acres of the site would contain houses, roads and common areas. The

remaining 11 acres would have a detention pond, a community septic system,

wetlands and open areas.

Each yard and house would be individually owned, with the remainder of the

land commonly owned. Property owners in the development would be subject to

various ownership rules.

The developers state Newtown Village would pose no adverse effects on property

values in the area based on a real estate market analysis.

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

owners, the Conservation Commission unanimously granted a wetlands

construction license to the Newtown Village applicants. At that time, the

proposal included 102 houses. The wetlands application had been pending since

September 1996.

The Sandy Hook Neighborhood Coalition, which was formed to oppose Newtown

Village when its wetlands application was pending before the Conservation

Commission, raised various environmental objections to the complex.

In its decision, the Conservation Commission determined that the applicants

plan to take adequate steps to environmentally protect wetlands and

watercourses at and near the site.

The coalition did not file a lawsuit over the Conservation Commission

approval. Coalition members have expressed concerns that the P&Z will be

constrained by state regulations on affordable housing in the upcoming P&Z

review of the applicants' development plan.

Application

In their application to the P&Z, the developers are seeking a special

exception to the zoning regulations to allow construction of the high-density

housing complex, including affordable housing.

Simultaneously, the applicants are seeking an amendment to the zoning

regulations to allow them to build a mechanized community septic system that

would extract nitrogen from wastewater before it's discharged into the ground.

Current zoning regulations do not allow mechanized community septic systems

for multi-family developments.

Last March, the developers had sought Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA)

permission to connect the site to the town sewer system, but the WPCA opted

not to approve a sewer line extension to the site.

To deal with increased traffic generated by the project during morning and

evening peak hours, the applicants propose widening sections of Route 34.

The developers also propose modifying the timing at two nearby traffic signals

on Route 34, plus synchronizing the signals to allow the maximum amount of

traffic to flow through the area.

Main access to the property would be on Route 34, just east of the Exit 11

overpass. An emergency access road would extend to the site from Philo Curtis

Road.

The site would be served by a United Water service line built at the

developers' expense. Yankeegas would provide natural gas.

The water line would provide a 1,000-gallon-per-minute flow rate for

firefighters, according to D&H Homes.

The developers maintain there is no basis for the fire marshal's disapproving

their proposed firefighting facilities.

The fire marshal wants the developers to provide an independent study on how

fires would be fought at the complex and what firefighting equipment would be

needed to do so. The fire marshal also wants to reserve the right to change

proposed fire hydrant placements.

The 24 affordable houses proposed for Newtown Village are intended for

families that earn 80 percent or less of the state's annual median income.

For a family of four, 80 percent of the median income is $47,680. The maximum

sale price of an affordable home would be $140,200. Fairfield 2000 would help

D&H Homes in the sales and marketing of the affordable houses.

The "market value homes" in the complex would be priced closer to $200,000.

The affordable housing is subsidized by the sale of market-value homes.

Houses would range in size from 1,568 square feet to 2,088 square feet.

There are 55 properties lying within 500 feet of the development site. These

property owners will be notified of the P&Z's upcoming public hearing by the

developer by mail.