P&Z Reviews Its

Open Space Strategy

By Andrew Gorosko

Following a discussion with people in the business of residential development, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering ways that the agency could modify its land use regulations to better encourage applicants to maximize the amount of open space land that would be preserved in certain residential subdivisions.

The P&Z convened the September 20 session with builders, developers, and engineers to learn how to best foster open space preservation in some new residential subdivisions to prevent suburban sprawl.

 Although the P&Z’s Open Space Conservation Subdivision (OSCS) regulations have been in effect since August 2004, no developer has ever pursued a residential development project under the terms of those rules. The OSCS regulations are intended to curb suburban sprawl by “clustering” the houses that are built on a site, thus preserving relatively large adjacent contiguous open space areas.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said land developers have shown very little interest in the OSCS rules during the past seven years, in seeking suggestions on how the goal of maximizing open space preservation amid single-family home subdivision development could be achieved.

P&Z members discussed the topic with a small group of realtors in August. The realtors expressed interest the OSCS regulations, but asked whether such development would be successful here and also asked who would initially pursue such a development design locally.

Ms Dean said the P&Z would revise the OSCS regulations to make those rules more useful and effective with the goal of open space preservation.

An internal proposal under consideration by the P&Z would revise the OSCS rules to streamline the regulations.

The existing OSCS rules require P&Z approvals for both the zoning aspects and the subdivision aspects of a residential development proposal. A proposed rules revision would remove the need for an applicant to obtain a “special exception permit” for a project under the zoning regulations. That revision would require that only a subdivision approval be obtained.

Under the proposed changes, the application and review process for OSCS development would be handled similar to the way that a conventional subdivision application is handled, with a requirement for only one P&Z application and only one P&Z public hearing.

Additionally, to make OSCS development more attractive to developers, the P&Z would offer a ten percent “density bonus” for such growth. Thus, if a given parcel could be subdivided into 20 building lots under the conventional subdivision rules, an OSCS development design would provide the developer with a ten percent density bonus of two additional, or 22 total, lots.

The P&Z’s intent in seeking OSCS development is to allow for greater flexibility and creativity in residential development design to provide significant open space preservation with the aim of protecting the town’s rural community character.

George Benson, town director of planning and land use, said the OSCS development approach seeks to maximize open space preservation, which would reduce the relative size of individual building lots in an OSCS subdivision compared to a conventional subdivision, with the goal of reduced physical stress on the environment.

Building lots would be smaller and less roadway would be constructed in an OSCS development, causing less developmental impact on the environment, he said.

Town land use officials think that the housing market is changing and that homebuyers want smaller building lots than have been created in conventional subdivisions in the past, he said. Mr Benson asked how the OSCS rules could be modified to best encourage such development.

The proposed changes to the OSCS rules would simplify the application process to make it more attractive to developers, he said. He asked those attending the September 20 session to describe the regulatory mechanisms through which the P&Z could foster OSCS growth.

Also, the P&Z is seeking criteria to gauge whether a given piece of land would be suitable for OSCS development, he said. Not all land parcels would lend themselves to such development, he noted.

Comments

Steven Trinkaus, the principal engineer for Trinkaus Engineering, LLC, of Southbury, described to P&Z members how land use agencies in several other towns encourage open space preservation in residential development.

Such development is marketable and is workable with appropriate planning mechanisms in place, he said.

The value gained by such growth is that residents living in such developments are surrounded by open space, he said. “The open space has value to people,” Mr Trinkaus said.

The Newtown P&Z’s current OSCS regulations pose many pitfalls for applicants, he said.

“The more flexible the regulation is, the better it is,” he stressed. “If you give us the flexibility, you’ll get very good projects,” he added.

“You have to look at all your [land use] regulations in a big way” and then formulate open space preservation rules that are workable, he said of the need to take a broad view of how open space preservation fits into the town’s overall land use regulation system.

Also, Mr Trinkaus urged that the OSCS rules be applicable to smaller sites. “If someone could do this on a ten-acre parcel, let them,” he said. The current rules require a minimum 20-acre parcel for OSCS development. 

Mr Trinkaus added that when pursuing residential development projects, “developers want to have a degree of certainty” that they will gain approval for their projects. He urged that the land use rules not have any internal conflicts.

Engineer Larry Edwards, of Larry Edwards Associates of Easton, told P&Z members that the complexity of the current OSCS regulations “just turns everybody off,” in commenting on why the rules have drawn no applicants during the past seven years.

The requirements of those rules would translate into an expensive planning process and an expensive implementation, he said.

The current OSCS rules provide the P&Z with many regulatory opportunities to turn down an application, he noted. The application for an OSCS subdivision should be similar to that for a conventional subdivision, Mr Edwards said.

Mr Edwards is the engineer for the Sherman Woods residential subdivision project, a proposed 38-lot development for a 158-acre parcel off Sherman Street in Sandy Hook.

P&Z members have said that the current OSCS rules could have been used for the design of Sherman Woods. However, the Sherman Woods applicant was not interested in pursuing such an OSCS development design and opted for a conventional subdivision.

Sherman Woods developer William Joyce has an appeal pending in Danbury Superior Court over the Inland Wetlands Commission’s (IWC) October 2009 decision not to issue a wetlands permit for the project. The Sherman Woods developer never submitted a subdivision application to the P&Z, not having received an IWC approval for the project.

Engineer Bill Carboni, of Spath-Bjorklund Associates of Monroe, provided P&Z members with his views on mechanisms that could foster local open space preservation amid residential development.

Also, Mr Carboni urged that the town allow more flexibility in its public road regulations.

Successful Cluster Developments

Kim Danziger, a builder/developer/engineer with Danziger Homes Inc, of Newtown, said that a cluster-style residential development that he developed in Monroe has proven very successful. The project involved an approximately 75-acre site that holds 39 lots, but which preserves 36 acres of open space, he said.

The project contains houses ranging from about 3,000 to about 4,000 square feet of floor area on relatively small lots, he said.

The physical difficulties posed by the site parcel lent the project to a cluster-style development approach, he said. In cluster development, houses are clustered on a site, allowing relatively large amounts of open space to remain.

Mr Danziger said that the lack of public sewer service and public water service in large parts of Newtown deters the creation of cluster-style development here. When sanitary sewers are not available for a site, it tends to require relatively larger lots for septic system installation, he noted.

Mr Danziger said that he likes the style of development that clusters dwellings with the goal of open space preservation.

He said that clients have asked him to construct expansive houses for them which are much smaller than the expensive houses that were built in the past.

The town’s OSCS regulations could use some adjustments, Mr Danziger said, adding that the existence of such open space rules should be better publicized by the P&Z.

P&Z member Jane Brymer said, “I’m really pleased with the input we’ve gotten,” adding that the comments made will be considered when P&Z members review possible changes to the OSCS rules.

Ms Dean said P&Z members received much information for review.

The town’s conventional residential subdivision rules require that at least 15 percent of a subdivision’s area be designated as undeveloped open space land. Thus, a conventional subdivision built on a hypothetical 100-acre site needs to have at least 15 acres designated as open space.

By contrast, the current OSCS rules provide that a 100-acre site would have 50 acres designated as open space.