Full Text:

Hearing Set On Hawleyville Economic Development Plan

(with graphic)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has scheduled a public hearing for

Thursday, April 16, to air its proposal to incorporate an economic development

study of Hawleyville into Newtown's master planning document -- the 1993 Town

Plan of Development.

A P&Z business meeting is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Newtown Middle School

auditorium, 11 Queen Street. The public hearing is slated for 8 pm.

Some P&Z members have expressed general support for the planning study, which

analyzes Hawleyville's potential for economic development through the year

2017.

The study, which was prepared for the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected

Officials (HVCEO) by Barakos-Landino, Inc, of Hamden, finds there is an

opportunity for significant economic development, without adversely affecting

the basic character of Hawleyville or overburdening its natural or built

environment. HVCEO members endorsed the study last September, making it HVCEO

policy.

Barakos-Landino has studied a 1,200-acre section of Hawleyville focusing on

Exit 9 of Interstate 84. The planners suggest various development

possibilities, including: age-restricted housing, assisted-living facilities,

medical office space, single-family houses, mixed retail uses, corporate

offices, a hotel, conference center, open space land, a village center and

industrial uses. The proposed land uses would be created by private developers

on privately-owned land. The study explains the many road improvements that

would be needed in Hawleyville to facilitate its economic growth. HVCEO, which

oversaw the study's production, serves as the region's transportation planning

agency.

The planning study is based on the types of development that are logically

expected in Hawleyville due to market conditions and the limitations on the

land due to slopes, wetlands, soil types, and floodplains. In suggesting

several development scenarios for Hawleyville, the HVCEO is seeking to balance

the interests of developers, the town, and the region.

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) wants to make the road

improvements described in the study within the coming 15 years.

Elizabeth Stocker, the P&Z's planning aide, has explained that HVCEO has a

detailed set of graphics depicting the differences between current land uses

in Hawleyville and those proposed in the study. Also, the graphics depict

current zoning categories versus new zoning categories which are recommended

in the study to facilitate its recommended land uses.

The Hawleyville study establishes a hierarchy of planning policies to foster

the controlled growth of that largely undeveloped section of town.

The study creates a public planning framework for future development, in

effect, "setting a tone" for economic growth.

At some point after the April 16 public hearing, P&Z members will act on the

proposal to include the Hawleyville study, or some portion of it, in the

town's Plan of Development.