The River Walk—

24-Unit Condo Complex Sought For Sandy Hook Center 

By Andrew Gorosko

A local builder/developer has submitted an application to the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) for a 24-unit condominium complex proposed for a 10.2-acre site on the west side of Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center.

Eight of the dwellings there would be designated as “affordable housing,” and be sold to owners or rented to tenants at prices significantly lower than the 16 “market rate” units in the complex.

Michael Burton of Michael Burton Builders, Inc, this week submitted the IWC application for the condo project, which is known as The River Walk.

Mr Burton said he plans a condo complex at which half of the units would be sold to owners, with the other half rented out to tenants.

The IWC would review and act on the wetlands/watercourses protection aspects of the condo project, whose site abuts the Pootatuck River. The site has about 520 feet of frontage on the river.

The site has two wetland areas. One area is associated with the Pootatuck River’s floodplain; the other area is associated with an unnamed tributary that flows into the river.

The IWC also would review aquifer protection measures proposed for the development site, which is located in the town’s environmentally sensitive Aquifer Protection District (APD) situated above the Pootatuck Aquifer.

Also, town Conservation Official Rob Sibley would review the project regarding its proximity to the 100-year floodplain of the Pootatuck River. The boundary of that floodplain delineates the extent to which the river would flood adjacent land during a theoretical 100-year period.

Mr Burton provided a tour of the site this week, describing where he would construct the six buildings that would hold new condo units. The property is located at 12, 16-A, 18, 20, and 20-A Washington Avenue. The site has about 600 feet of frontage on Washington Avenue. The property lies about 650 feet south of Washington Avenue’s intersection with Church Hill Road.

Five of the six new buildings on the site would hold four residences each. One building would hold two residences, plus contain office space and meeting facilities.

Two existing houses on the site would be designated as condo units in the complex. In the proposed complex, 11 of the new multifamily units would be one-story, two-bedroom ranch-style residences, with the other 11 new residences designed as two-story, three-bedroom townhouse units.

Eight of the 24 units would be designated as “affordable housing,” conforming with regulations limiting the amount of money which owners would pay to buy the units, or that tenants would pay to occupy the residences, Mr Burton said.

Mr Burton has said that site plans call for the new construction to be unobtrusive and located well away from Washington Avenue. The property would be visually well-buffered, according to Mr Burton.

The site would be served by two driveways intersecting with Washington Avenue, one of which would have enter/exit traffic, with the other having only entering traffic.

The condos would have no basements. The complex would not have garages. About 3.15 acres of the site would be developed.

The application submitted to the IWC indicates that the condo complex would be completed by the winter of 2012.

Plans call for a pedestrian bridge spanning the Pootatuck River, which would link the site to the business area at 102 Church Hill Road. That bridge would thus provide River Walk residents with direct foot access to Sandy Hook Center’s business district.

The proposed footbridge would be similar in design to an existing footbridge across the river in Sandy Hook Center which lies south of the Church Hill Road vehicular bridge, Mr Burton said.

Project Review

Besides IWC review and approval, the project would require review and approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z). Mr Burton stressed that the condo complex’s plans seek to meet the requirements of the town’s zoning regulations on affordable housing. Those land use rules have been in effect since 1996.

Mr Burton said that engineering work performed for him on the site indicates that the project complies with regulations concerning the proximity of construction to Pootatuck River’s 100-year floodplain.

Nowakowski, O’Bymachow, Kane and Associates of Shelton is the engineering firm for the project.

The site has R-2 (Residential) zoning, which is designated for single-family houses constructed on building lots of at least two acres in area.

However, when an application is submitted under the terms of the P&Z’s affordable housing regulations, a construction density bonus takes effect.

As an incentive to create affordable housing, the P&Z allows developers to create a higher-than-normal construction density on a site, allowing more residences to be built than would normally be permitted.

That construction density incentive allows sufficient units to be constructed to have the market-rate units provide financial subsidies for the construction of the lower-priced affordable units.

Mr Sibley said this week that he has briefly reviewed the development application and will be reviewing the plans in more detail.

The applicant has taken a “careful approach” in terms of meeting the requirements of the town’s flood prevention ordinance, as well as meeting the town’s wetland regulations, Mr Sibley said.

Mr Sibley said The River Walk application will be the subject of an upcoming IWC public hearing.

Last February, Mr Burton received preliminary approval from the town’s Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) to extend municipal sanitary sewers to the site. The development site is largely located outside the town’s sewer district, so the boundary lines of the sewer district would need to be redrawn to allow the complex to discharge wastewater into the sewer system.

Other Project

In 2007, a Danbury developer filed court appeals against the P&Z and the WSA after both those agencies rejected its controversial proposal to create a 26-unit condo complex including eight affordable housing units on a steep, rugged 4.5-acre site at 95-99 Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center.

The P&Z had rejected site plans for the Edona Commons project, and the WSA had rejected a sewer connection for the complex. Both of Dauti Construction, LLC’s, lawsuits are pending in New Britain Superior Court.

Those lawsuits are filed under the provisions of the state’s Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Act. Under that law, applicants for affordable housing projects that are rejected by municipal land use agencies gain certain legal leverage in getting those projects approved through court appeals. Only public health issues and public safety issues are considered to be justifiable reasons for a land use agency to reject an affordable housing project.

Unlike Mr Burton’s project, which seeks to comply with the P&Z’s existing regulations on affordable housing complexes, the Dauti proposal for Edona Commons seeks to have the P&Z modify many zoning regulations to allow Edona Commons to be built.

Dauti’s construction proposal drew heavy opposition from nearby property owners.