104 Units—

Rezoning Proposal For Condo Complex Draws Opposition 

By Andrew Gorosko

A development firm’s proposal to rezone 35 acres near westbound Interstate 84’s Exit 10 off-ramp, as part of its plan to build 104 age-restricted condominiums there, has drawn stiff opposition from people living in that area, who have submitted about 135 petition signatures to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) in seeking to thwart the project.

Toll Brothers, Inc, is seeking to rezone the 35 acres from R-1 (Residential) and R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing). Most of the site is currently zoned as R-1, with a strip of land located alongside Walnut Tree Hill Road zoned as R-2.

R-1 zoning is designated for single-family houses on lots of at least one acre. R-2 zoning allows single-family houses on lots of at least two acres. EH-10 zoning is designated for high-density, multifamily housing for people over age 55.

The site has a street address of 79 Church Hill Road. The wooded, hilly property, which is owned by Carmine Renzulli of Norwalk, lies on the west side of Walnut Tree Hill Road, extending from Church Hill Road to the Evergreen Road area.

Toll Brothers’ application for the change of zoning designation from R-1 and R-2 to EH-10 had been scheduled for a December 2 P&Z public hearing.

But attorney Robert Hall, representing the firm, told P&Z members that he had not formally notified all 93 property owners with holdings within 500 feet of the site of the December 2 session, as is required by the P&Z, so the hearing should thus be postponed.

Consequently, P&Z members rescheduled the hearing for January 20. It is yet unclear whether the January 20 hearing will be held at the land use offices in Canaan House at Fairfield Hills, or in office space on Pecks Lane, where the town’s land use offices will be relocating soon.

Opposition

At the December 2 session, Walnut Tree Hill Road area residents presented P&Z members with a thick stack of bright pink petition forms listing the names of people in that area and elsewhere who formally oppose Toll Brothers’ proposal to rezone the 35 acres to EH-10 for a 104-unit condo complex. The complex would contain about 14 multiunit buildings and have two driveways linking it to Walnut Tree Hill Road.

The petition signers largely live in that general area, with many of them being residents of Walnut Tree Village, a 189-unit age-restricted condo complex on the east side of Walnut Tree Hill Road, which is now in its final construction stages.

One of the petition signers attached comments to her petition that appear to summarize the sentiment of those opposed to the project.

In a note to P&Z Chairman William O’Neil, Doris Esposito of 18 St Georges Place, Walnut Tree Village, wrote, “More condos in a condo-saturated area such as Walnut Tree Hill [Road]flies in the face of common sense, unless you’re Toll Brothers. Please do what’s best for all of us residing in the Walnut Tree Hill area and leave the present zoning [designations] in place.”

Toll Brothers’ request for a municipal sewer connection to serve the proposed condo complex was scheduled for discussion and possible action by the Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) on the night of Thursday, December 9, after the deadline for this edition of The Newtown Bee. The firm wants town permission to discharge approximately 20,000 gallons of wastewater daily into the central sewer system.

At a November 18 WSA session, six Walnut Tree Hill Road residents, represented by an attorney, had formally registered their opposition to Toll Brothers’ condo construction proposal and urged its rejection.

Attorney Ted Backer told WSA members that approving the request would be inconsistent with the priorities for sewer connections listed in the town’s sewer ordinance. Such a sewer connection also would not be in accord with the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, according to Mr Backer.

In a recent memorandum to the WSA, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal seeks to dissuade the agency from providing a sewer connection for the proposed condo complex.

Mr Rosenthal wrote, in part, “It would be inappropriate to grant sewer capacity to the proposed condominium project.”

The first selectman notes that in the past, sewer service has been granted to such complexes only after an applicant demonstrates the number of dwellings that the soils on a given site would be able to support with the use of conventional septic waste disposal systems. “I would be surprised if the soils would be suitable for more than just a few units of housing,” Mr Rosenthal wrote.

“I have concerns about traffic and traffic safety on Walnut Tree Hill Road and its intersection with Church Hill Road. Walnut Tree Hill Road already has many significant traffic issues without the addition of another condominium complex on this section of the road. It would be my estimation that if the necessary traffic improvements could be made to support this complex, the cost would be prohibitive,” he wrote.

The first selectman adds, “Exit 10 is one of the town’s major points of entry and a large condominium complex on this particular parcel would not be the type of image the town would wish to present.”

Walnut Tree Hill Road residents who spoke at the WSA session said that having two large condo complexes in their neighborhood would damage their property values, as well as cause a significant increase in traffic volume in an area that already has traffic problems, according to WSA records.

Besides the Walnut Tree Hill Road condo proposal, Toll Brothers is simultaneously seeking town approvals to build 60 age-restricted condos on a 51-acre site at 21 Oakview Road, near Newtown High School.