80-Unit Complex—

Residents Worry About Traffic And Trout In Opposing Condo Plan

By Andrew Gorosko

Oakview Road residents have raised concerns about the traffic consequences of a developer’s proposal to build 80 age-restricted condominium units on a site lying between that narrow, winding road and the Pootatuck River, near Newtown High School.

Also, several people have voiced concerns about such construction in an environmentally sensitive area, which is above a major aquifer and adjacent to a wild trout fishing area. 

Those issues surfaced at a March 4 Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing on Toll Brothers Inc’s request to change the zoning designation for a 59-acre Oakview Road site from R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing). R-2 zoning is designated for single-family house construction on lots of at least two acres. EH-10 zoning allows the construction of high-density, multifamily housing, which is restricted to people over age 55.

The requested change of zone is one of many town approvals that Toll Brothers would need to construct its proposed complex at 21-23 Oakview Road. About one-third of the site would be developed.

Simultaneously, Toll Brothers is seeking Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) approval for sanitary sewer service for 80 condos. The WPCA was scheduled to meet on Thursday, March 11, to discuss and possibly act on the sewering request. That session was scheduled to take place after the deadline for this edition of The Newtown Bee.

P&Z members are scheduled to discuss Toll Brothers’ requested zone change on April 15, and act on the proposal on May 6.

At the March 4 P&Z public hearing, Ruby Johnson of 16 Chestnut Hill Road told P&Z members she has concerns about the effect that a condo complex would have on the town’s wastewater treatment capacity at the town’s Commerce Road sewage treatment plant. Ms Johnson also addressed the economic development implications of such development.

Robert Emmerthal of 7 Oakview Road told P&Z members he opposes the condo project. Oakview Road now has a dozen houses alongside it and residents there own about 30 autos, he said. A condo complex would create a “huge traffic increase,” he said. When a nearby youth athletic field, which is located at the corner of Oakview Road and Wasserman Way, is in use, many vehicles are parked along Oakview Road, he said.

Mr Emmerthal added that the new athletic field complex at the high school, which has an entry point from Oakview Road, will be used for the first time this spring.

If a multifamily project is built, Oakview Road residents would suffer the consequences of heavy traffic, he said. It would be “incredibly unfair” to those residents, he said.

Oakview Road residents have undergone much disruption during the past few years, Mr Emmerthal said, in apparent reference to the major construction work for the high school athletic field project. Also, sewer and water lines were installed beneath Oakview Road to serve the high school, after which Oakview Road was paved for the first time.

“This is the last straw,” Mr Emmerthal said of the condo proposal. He told P&Z members that he would rather risk the consequences of 20 new homes eventually being built on the development site, rather than an 80-unit condo complex there.

Mr Emmerthal said that high school student motorists speed on the narrow Oakview Road. The street, which links Wasserman Way to Berkshire Road, is used as a shortcut by some motorists. It also is used by pedestrians.

Traffic conditions were much better on Oakview Road before it was paved several years ago, Mr Emmerthal said. After the road was paved, traffic speeds there rose, he said. Mr Emmerthal urged the P&Z to reject the condo proposal.

George Daniels of 5 Indian Hill Lane also urged the project’s rejection.

John Bickel of 17 Oakview Road said he moved to Newtown from New York about 11/2 years ago. Mr Bickel said that widening the road to accommodate increased traffic would result in faster traffic there. Considering the presence of pedestrians, there would be safety hazards, he said.

Joan Doutney of 11 Oakview Road said the prospect of increased traffic on the street is her main concern. “The more you widen it [road], the worse it gets,” she said. As Oakview Road has been successively improved by the town during the past decade, traffic speeds have continued increasing, she said.

Michael McCaffrey of 15-A Oakview Road asked whether a luxury-grade condo complex would meet the need for local elderly housing. Sale prices for the Toll Brothers units would start at $425,000.

Local elderly people need low- and moderate-income elderly housing, Mr McCaffrey said. 

Robert Rau of 12 Lake Road said that there is a local need for luxury-grade elderly housing and there are few places available to build it.

 

Traffic Response

Henry Ditman, is a vice president of Barkan and Mess Associates, Inc, of Branford, a traffic engineering firm employed by Toll Brothers.

Mr Ditman said that an 80-unit condo complex would generate 30 vehicle trips per hour during the morning peak-travel period, and would generate 30 vehicle trips per hour during the evening peak- travel period.

During the course of a day, each condo on the site would generate between six and seven vehicle trips, translating into between 480 and 560 overall vehicle trips daily, he said.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland said he is concerned about the prospect of additional traffic on Oakview Road traveling past the heavily used youth athletic field at the corner of Oakview Road and Wasserman Way.

P&Z member Lilla Dean pointed out that traffic conditions are difficult in the area.

Mr Ditman said the development site would have two driveways extending to it from Oakview Road, one of which might serve as an emergency entry-exit point. Toll Brothers would widen sections of Oakview Road, as needed, for the sake of safety, he added.

 Ms Dean said an improved Oakview Road would become an attractive shortcut for motorists, increasing the road’s traffic and the travel speeds on it. It may not necessarily be a good idea to improve that road, she said.

Toll Brothers has proposed increasing the road width to a minimum of 18 feet. In some areas, the road is now only 13 to 14 feet wide. Such road improvements would not eliminate curves and humps in the road, according to Mr Ditman. A potential development site plan would specify road improvements that the developer would make.

Trout Fishing

At the P&Z hearing, James Belden of 2 Pumpkin Lane, representing Trout Unlimited, said the area where Toll Brothers wants to build is an environmentally sensitive one. The site is in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), an area lying above the Pootatuck Aquifer, which is strictly regulated to prevent environmental degradation of the aquifer.

“Any development of this site is obviously an issue to us,” Mr Belden said of the wildlife group members, whose goal is the protection of coldwater fisheries, such as the Pootatuck River.

Mr Belden said that if the site is developed, great care must be taken to protect the undeveloped sections of the site and the water quality in the nearby Pootatuck River.

In a March 4 letter to the P&Z, Don Mysling, a senior fisheries biologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) raised concerns about development.

The western boundary of the site abuts a “Class 1 wild trout management area,” which is one of eight such areas in the state where trout breed naturally. The Pootatuck River contains native brook trout, wild brown trout, rainbow trout, blacknose dace, common shiners, tessellated darters, and white suckers.

Although the state stocks the Pootatuck River with adult brook, brown, and rainbow trout, the state has stopped its river stocking in the section of the river near the development site because trout reproduce naturally there. That one-mile-long river reach, lying both north and south of Deep Brook’s confluence with the Pootatuck River, supports an abundant, wild, self-sustaining trout population, which provides high quality wild trout fishing, Mr Mysling explained. Fishing is allowed year-round. Anglers are required to release their catch.

Mr Mysling provided the P&Z with a detailed series of environmental measures needed to protect the Pootatuck River, if the site is developed.

Project Analysis

In a March 1 report to the P&Z, Elizabeth Stocker, the town’s community development director, notes that the site contains wetland soils, watercourses, flood hazard areas, a pond, and steep slopes. Whether a multifamily complex is constructed, or single-family houses are eventually built on the property, “environmental constraints appear to be significant,” she said.

The theoretical maximum number of multifamily dwellings that could be built on such a site under the EH-10 zoning rules is 150 units, Ms Stocker wrote. But even if the zoning designation for the site is changed from R-2 to EH-10, and sewer service is allowed there, environmental constraints on the property likely would prevent that many units from being developed, she added.

Ms Stocker noted that the applicant has not demonstrated that as many as 20 to 22 single-family houses could be supported by the site. Toll Brothers has used 20-to-22 figure as the number of single-family houses that potentially could be developed on the site as a basis for certain statistics in its traffic report on the project.

The site’s environmental constraints are significant and would affect the single-family-house development potential of the property, Ms Stocker writes.

The presence of a nearby wild trout area should be considered during the design and construction of such a complex, she adds. The effect of construction on the river and on wildlife must be carefully reviewed in avoiding river system degradation, she states.

 “The…site is attractive for higher density development due to its proximity to all of Newtown’s major roadways [and sewer and water utilities]. The constraints of the environment and immediate roadway capacity, however, should be examined and weighed to determine if this property is appropriate for the proposed zone change,” Ms Stocker writes.

“A Pretty Good Reception”

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Toll Brothers, said the developers have met with town officials about the proposed complex and have received a generally positive response.

“Generally speaking, we thought we had a pretty good reception,” the lawyer said. The town will need such complexes to provide residences for aging members of the ‘baby boom’ generation, he said.

Mr Hall said the WPCA is careful in allotting the town’s limited sewage treatment capacity for development projects. The lawyer pointed out, though, that there are very few large properties like the Oakview Road site, which lie near the town’s central sewer system.

“We need to have coordination between your commission and the WPCA,” Mr Hall told P&Z members, noting that the project’s success hinges on both the P&Z and the WPCA endorsing it.

“It’s to the town’s advantage, economically, to make this (zone) change,” he said. The project would not hurt nearby property values, Mr Hall said.

A financial analyst for the developer has calculated that when fully built, the 80-unit complex would generate approximately $487,000 in annual net revenue for the town.

The Economic Development Commission (EDC) has endorsed the Toll Brothers proposal as a form of local economic development. The EDC determined that such a project would have a “very positive effect on the economy of Newtown.” Such development places few demands on the local infrastructure and makes no demands on the public school system, according to the EDC. The complex would have a private, internal road network.

Gregory Kameldulski, a Toll Brothers vice president, told P&Z members that the firm is sensitive to environmental concerns and has the expertise to tackle complex development projects. The firm would work to protect the Pootatuck River and also would create a trail network on the property, he said. Toll Brothers has the financial staying power to develop properties, he added.

 Mr Kameldulski said the firm would construct a housing complex which is architecturally similar to a project that it is now being built on Route 25 in Trumbull, known as Regency Meadows at Trumbull. When completed, that complex will have 49 units on a 16.5-acre site.