Date: Fri 31-May-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Estates-Tamarack-Woods

Full Text:

Hearings Set On Two Controversial Development Plans

note: phenix is cq

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) is scheduled to conduct public

hearings June 6 on two residential subdivision proposals - The Estates on

Taunton Hill and Tamarack Woods.

The P&Z session is slated for 8 pm in the Alexandria Room in Edmond Town Hall,

45 Main Street. Normally, P&Z hearings are in the Town Hall South conference

room, but because there is keen public interest in these projects, the

hearings will be in the larger quarters at Edmond Town Hall.

The Estates on Taunton Hill involves the subdivision of the 60-acre Damota

Estate into 19 lots. The land is subject to two-acre residential zoning.

The property lies in the vicinity of Taunton Hill Road, Great Hill Road,

Taunton Ridge Road, Fairchild Drive and Taunton Lane. Two new roads would be

built in the subdivision - Phenix Lane and Glenmor Road. The new roads would

link the development to Taunton Hill Road and Taunton Ridge Road.

The applicant for the project is Damota, Limited Liability Corporation, of

which Glen Damota of 37 Taunton Hill Road is its managing member.

The developer proposes donating 6.7 acres of open space land to the town or to

a land trust for public use for passive recreation.

Last September, the Conservation Commission granted Damota, LLC, a permit for

construction work in a wetlands area in a 6-to-0 vote.

Besides Glen Damota, Candido Damota of Crosslake, Minn., is listed as having

an interest in The Estates on Taunton Hill.

The development project would involve building almost 2,900 feet of new

roadway.

The developers have notified the owners of 62 parcels that lie within 500 feet

of the edge of the 60-acre parcel of the coming public hearing.

All septic systems for the development would be designed by a professional

engineer to ensure they function properly and all home heating fuel tanks

would be located in basements to prevent the possibility of leaking

underground storage tanks.

In recent weeks, people living in the area of the proposed development have

visited the town's planning office to review drawings for the project.

Tamarack Woods

The P&Z also will conduct a public hearing on M&E Land Group's controversial

Tamarack Woods, a proposed 10-lot development on the 33-acre triangle of land

which is bordered by Tamarack Road, Sanford Road and Echo Valley Road. The

land has two-acre residential zoning.

The principals in M&E Land Group are Thomas Maguire of Newtown and Larry

Edwards of Easton, developers who have acquired subdivision rights for many

parcels in Newtown.

In a 3-to-2 vote on February 14, the Conservation Commission approved a

wetlands construction permit for the project. Seven properties abut the

development site. There are a total of 33 properties within 500 feet of the

edge of the site.

All septic systems for the development would be designed by a professional

engineer. All heating fuel tanks would be placed in the new houses' basements.

No new roadways would be built for the development.

In March, Cordalie Benoit Eliscu of 23 Sanford Road, an abutter to the

development site, sued the Conservation Commission and M&E land Group over the

commission's decision to grant the developers the wetlands construction

permit. However, the suit was not filed before the court's deadline for such

suits, so the legal challenge was invalidated.

The lawsuit sought a restraining order to nullify the wetlands construction

permit granted by the Conservation Commission. Ms Eliscu contended that the

development project would damage wetlands and underground water supplies,

claims which were refuted by town environmental official David Thompson.

In recent months, residents who live near the development site attended

selectmen's meetings to stress they want their area to retain its rural

character.

Initially, the town sought to have 1,600 feet of Sanford Road and 700 feet of

Tamarack Road widened to 18 feet to facilitate the traffic flow to be

generated by the planned new houses. Both dirt roads are very narrow.

Area residents then complained that widened roads would mean speeding and

would destroy the area's rural character.

The town then opted against road widening, instead deciding that improvement

work should include: cleaning up road shoulders to remove windrows which

impede drainage; removing one tree and a rock outcropping on Sanford Road;

installing some storm drainage structures; and laying a six-inch-thick layer

of crushed stone atop the dirt roads.

In its initial version, the developers proposed Tamarack Woods as an 11-lot

development.