Date: Fri 28-Nov-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

WPCA-Walnut-Tree-Village

Full Text:

Walnut Tree Village Developers Have Plans For 150 More Units

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The developers of Walnut Tree Village, a condominium complex for senior

citizens at 26 Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy Hook, are exploring the

possibilities of building 150 more age-restricted housing units on land

nearby.

Walnut Tree Village has approvals to build 80 units. So far, about 50 units

have been constructed. The 80 units are planned for completion by the end of

1998, Louis DeFilio of Walnut Tree Developers said Monday. Walnut Tree Village

is intended for people at least 55 years old. The property is in an EH-10 zone

and designated for multifamily housing for the elderly.

Mr DeFilio and his development partner, George Trudell, have met with Water

Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) members to explore the possibility of

building an additional 150 units on a 35-acre site generally south and east of

the adjacent 18-acre Walnut Tree Village site. Mr DeFilio owns the 35-acre

parcel. It formerly was owned by Imre Lantos.

The developers are seeking information on how they should request WPCA

permission to connect the envisioned 150 units to the municipal sewer system.

Walnut Tree Village is now connected to the town sewer system. A temporary

community septic system which served Walnut Tree Village is being demolished

to make way for the 30 units which remain to be built there. Telephone and

natural gas workers were installing public utilities at the site this week.

Mr DeFilio pointed out, "This is conceptual," adding the developers don't yet

have any design plans for a new 150-unit complex. "It's all in the talking

stage," he said. The idea has no working name, he said.

In discussing the concept with WPCA members, Mr DeFilio and Mr Trudell learned

that they should submit a request in writing to the WPCA concerning sewer

service for units at the 35-acre site.

Mr DeFilio said the developers will await the final version of the town sewer

regulations concerning sewer connections for residential developments outside

the sewer district. Mr DeFilio said he hopes to learn the content of those

regulations within six months.

Additional information on the town's remaining wastewater disposal capacity in

the sewer system may be available in the spring.

The municipal sewage treatment plant is designed to treat 932,000 gallons of

wastewater daily. Of that amount, 332,000 gallons are designated for town use,

with the remainder reserved for state use.

On November 20, WPCA Chairman Richard Zang pointed out to Walnut Tree

Developers that the WPCA's current policy on sewer connections does not offer

any wastewater disposal capacity to new residential development lying outside

the town's sewer district. The 35-acre parcel eyed for condo construction is

not within the sewer district.

The town's current sewer regulations specify priorities for the allocation of

wastewater treatment capacity. The highest priority is providing wastewater

treatment for existing development within the sewer district. In descending

order, the other priorities involve providing wastewater treatment for:

potential development meeting current zoning regulations within the sewer

district; existing development along sewer transmission routes; existing

development outside the sewer district identified as areas of concern in the

sewer facilities plan which is reasonably close to the sewer district; and

other existing development outside the sewer district which is in close

proximity to the district.

The WPCA's sewer regulations have gone through several revisions in recent

months. When WPCA members are satisfied with their evolving regulations, the

rules will be submitted to a public hearing for comments. Eventually, the

regulations will be fashioned into a town ordinance by the Legislative

Council.

Sewer Access

Although the 18-acre Walnut Tree Village site is not in the sewer district,

the developers were able to gain access to the town sewer system by extending

a 1,500-foot-long sewer transmission line down a neck of land on their site

which fronts on Church Hill Road, which is in the sewer district.

After the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approved Walnut Tree Village in

early 1995, the developers sued the town to gain legal leverage in getting the

project connected to the town sewer system.

Early this year, the town and Walnut Tree Developers reached an agreement

specifying the payments the developers will make to the town to connect the

Walnut Tree Village condominium complex to town sewers.

The developers agreed to pay the town $765,000 for the right to connect Walnut

Tree Village to the sewer system. The developers recoup that cost from the

condominium buyers. The connection costs do not include sewer use fees.

When the $765,000 is divided by the 80 units planned for the complex, each

unit's sewer connection cost is $9,562.50.

Owners of the first 35 units built at Walnut Tree Village have either five

years or ten years to pay off their sewer connection charges. Condo owners

paying off the sewer connection charges across either five-year or ten-year

terms will bear loan interest charges of 4.5 percent. Those owners are not

entitled to the two percent subsidized interest rate available to property

owners within the sewer district.

The people who move into the next 45 units there will pay their sewer

connection charge in a lump sum.

Walnut Tree Village is a boon to the town, Mr DeFilio said, noting that while

the owners of the condos pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the town in

property taxes, they send no children to the public school system. The average

age of residents at the complex is 62, he said. The complex has three basic

floor plans ranging from 1,170 square feet to 1,450 square feet in area, he

said. Units start at approximately $185,000, he said, adding that one unit has

sold for $260,000. Prices are based on the size and the level of detail in a

unit. Most units sell from somewhere between $185,000 to above $200,000.

The site eyed for additional development probably would be served by a street

extending from Church Hill Road, Mr DeFilio said. Mr DeFilio owns roughly 150

feet of frontage on that road.

Four Projects

The initial housing complex approved under the town's elderly housing

regulations was Nunnawauk Meadows, a 120-unit rental apartment complex on

Nunnawauk Road sponsored by Newtown Housing for the Elderly, a publicly-

subsidized, not-for-profit group.

The privately-based Walnut Tree Developers gained approval for the 80-unit

Walnut Tree Village condo complex in early 1995.

In October, the P&Z approved Riverview Condominiums, a 49-unit complex which

will contain 13 affordable housing units when completed.

Earlier this month, P&Z members unanimously rejected Newtown Village, a

proposed 96-house condominium development off Route 34 which would contain 24

affordable units. The developers are expected to appeal the rejection.

Land use regulations on housing for the elderly and affordable housing allow

higher-than-normal residential construction densities.