Church Hill Road—

IWC Reviews Commercial Redevelopment Plans

By Andrew Gorosko

Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) members plan to tour the Church Hill Road site of a proposed retail/office redevelopment project that would add 60,500 square feet of new commercial space to the area.

On August 22, the IWC conducted a public hearing on Newtown Savings Bank’s proposal for The Villages at Lexington Gardens at 30-32 Church Hill Road. The hearing is slated to resume on September 12.

The applicant is seeking a wetlands/watercourses protection permit from the IWC for the 6.3-acre site. The applicant also requires approval from the Borough Zoning Commission (BZC), which has scheduled a September 19 public hearing on the zoning aspects of the project.

Attorney Peter Scalzo, representing the bank, told IWC members that the project would keep in place an existing 16,000-square-foot commercial building at 30 Church Hill Road.

The 60,500 square feet of new space would be built in the form of multiple two-story buildings at 32 Church Hill Road. The former Lexington Gardens garden shop/nursery complex would be demolished to make way for the new construction.

Soil scientist James McManus, representing the applicant, told IWC members that wet areas lie to the south and to the west of the site. But those areas have low environmental value in terms of their functionality as wetlands and their provision of wildlife habitat, he said.

As part of the redevelopment project, an existing swale that runs alongside the southern boundary of the site would be physically improved in terms of stormwater control, he said. That swale is on town-owned property at the Newtown Middle School grounds.

The 30-32 Church Hill Road redevelopment project would have no adverse effects on-site or off-site concerning wetlands and watercourses, Mr McManus said.

Engineer Michael Lillis, representing the applicant, said that after the full project is constructed, approximately four acres of the 30-32 Church Hill Road site would be covered by impervious surfaces, increasing the existing impervious coverage there by about one acre. Impervious surfaces are those which shed water.

A major aspect of wetlands/watercourses protection would be the physical stabilization of the swale on the adjacent middle school property, he said. That drainage ditch would convey stormwater runoff away from the redevelopment site, he said.

Mr McManus explained that the swale improvement work would both control the erosion of the swale itself, as well as protect the water quality of stormwater runoff.

The project would be served by municipal sanitary sewers and by a public water supply system, Mr Lillis said.

IWC member Mary Curran asked whether stormwater flow would result in the swale overflowing its banks.

Mr Lillis said that a 100-year storm would result in water in the swale reaching a depth of 18 inches, but not cause the swale to overflow. The 100-year storm is the worst rainstorm that can be expected to occur during a hypothetical 100-year period.

Rob Sibley, town deputy director of planning and land use, said that town officials have endorsed the applicants improving the town-owned swale.

During the public comment section of the IWC hearing, no members of the public commented or raised questions.

 IWC Chairman Anne Peters asked that the applicant post some reference stakes at the redevelopment site so that IWC members who are touring the property can relate the project’s mapping to the terrain.

Some IWC members have already toured the site and others have yet to visit it, Mr Sibley said August 23.