Date: Fri 30-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Hawleyville-Nicolosi

Full Text:

Zone Change Request For Hawleyville Is Rebuffed By P&Z

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have decided not to consider a

requested zone change in Hawleyville that is similar to a zone change proposal

they rejected last June.

In an application which had been scheduled for a public hearing January 22,

Steve Nicolosi, and others, were seeking a change of zone from R-1 Residential

to M-4 Industrial for about eight acres on the western end of Barnabas Road.

The area sought for a zone change is composed of six land parcels, one of

which is on the south side of Barnabas Road and five of which are on the north

side.

The single parcel is located between Barnabas Road and the Exit 9 off-ramp of

westbound Interstate 84. The five parcels are north of Barnabas Road and east

of the state's commuter parking lot on Hawleyville Road. Two of those five

parcels contain houses.

If the zoning for the land were changed to M-4 Industrial, it is unclear

exactly what would be built there, but any land use permitted in an M-4 zone

would be allowed, provided that site plans meet applicable zoning regulations.

Permitted uses in M-4 zones include laboratories, public utility complexes,

offices, printing plants, publishers, light industrial uses, wholesale

businesses and warehouses, among other uses.

Last June, when Mr Nicolosi had his initial zone change request pending before

the P&Z, he indicated he wanted to build a pre-fabricated building for various

industrial uses, including space for businesses in radon reduction, plumbing,

heating, ventilation and air conditioning. That rezoning request drew fire at

a public hearing from some nearby residents who questioned the wisdom of

allowing industrial uses on that land.

In a letter to the P&Z read at the January 22 session, a lawyer representing

the Housatonic Railroad endorsed rezoning the eight acres for industrial uses.

The railroad runs along the northern edge of the land.

In a letter to the P&Z, Mrs Thomas Cherry of Old Hawleyville Road objects to

the proposed zone change. Such a change would decrease her property's value

and change the character of the place to which she and her late husband moved

for its peace and quiet, she writes. Since moving to Old Hawleyville Road, the

Cherrys improved their property, she notes.

Report

Land use consultant Joseph Heyman, representing Mr Nicolosi, presented P&Z

members with copies of a report he prepared on the zone change request.

P&Z Chairman Stephen Koch reminded Mr Heyman that he had been asked to

postpone the zone change request. Mr Koch said the P&Z is legally within

bounds in deciding not to consider a new version of a rejected application

within 12 months of the rejection.

When P&Z members rejected the earlier version, they said an ongoing study on

the economic development potential of Hawleyville had not been completed and

it would be premature to make a decision on increasing industrial zoning

there.

Mr Heyman said the proposal slated for a public hearing January 22 involved

rezoning eight acres from Residential to Industrial, a much larger amount than

the five acres under consideration for rezoning last June, thus making the

second proposal a new application entirely, not a revision of a previous

application.

Mr Heyman noted that in rejecting the rezoning request last June, P&Z members

based their decision on waiting for the final version of the Hawleyville

economic development plan. That plan has been approved by the Housatonic

Valley Council of Elected Officials, he noted.

But the Hawleyville development study is not final, P&Z member James Boylan

said, noting P&Z members have not yet acted on that development plan.

Approving the "spot zoning" requested by Mr Nicolosi before the P&Z acts on

the development plan does not make much sense, Mr Boylan said.

P&Z member Michael Osborne agreed.

P&Z member Heidi Winslow, who is a lawyer, said she would not participate in

deciding whether to conduct a public hearing because Mr Heyman has been a

client of hers.

P&Z member Daniel Fogliano said it would not be prudent for P&Z members to

have a public hearing on the proposal before it is clear what action the P&Z

will take on the Hawleyville development plan.

"We don't take zone changes very lightly," he said.

Mr Koch pointed out that P&Z members will soon receive a formal presentation

from the planners who produced the study. Following discussion of the study by

P&Z members, a public hearing might be held, after which members would decide

whether to include the study, or some part of it, as part of the town's 1993

Plan of Development.

Based on a poll of P&Z members' views on the second version of the zone change

request, Mr Koch told Mr Heyman there would be no public hearing on it January

22.

But Mr Heyman objected, saying the P&Z was increasing delays Mr Nicolosi has

encountered in seeking to rezone the land.

"This is substantially the same application" which was rejected last June, Mr

Koch told Mr Heyman.

On that note, Mr Heyman took back the reports on the application he had

submitted to P&Z members.

Expressing frustration, Mr Heyman asked if there would be more delays if

another zone change request is submitted in the future.