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Building Lots On Taunton Hill Are Approved

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

In a 3-to-2 vote, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has approved the

fourth version of The Estates on Taunton Hill, a controversial plan to create

19 building lots on 60 acres off Taunton Hill Road and Taunton Ridge Road.

After discussion December 4, P&Z members approved the project submitted by

Glen DaMota, the managing partner of DaMota, LLC.

The approval marks the conclusion of a development review process which began

about two years ago. Voting in favor of the subdivision were P&Z Chairman

Stephen Koch, Heidi Winslow, and Robert Taylor. Opposed were Daniel Fogliano

and Michael Osborne.

P&Z members had been poised to act on the application on November 20, but had

received a letter from Environmental Enforcement Officer Christopher Majewski

expressing concerns about erosion and sedimentation control on the property.

In light of those concerns, action on the proposal was postponed until

December 4.

After reviewing a revised erosion and sedimentation control plan for the land,

Mr Majewski endorsed it, stating his concerns about protecting wetlands and

surface waters on the site have been satisfied.

In speaking in favor of the application, Ms Winslow said the developer is

seeking to preserve the integrity of some scenic, rustic barns on the site. A

technical problem concerning "dual frontage" lots on the site has been

resolved, she said.

Last February, in the third version of the subdivision, whether the presence

of four dual frontage lots should prevent approval of the 19-lot proposal was

up to the P&Z members' interpretation of the subdivision regulations.

Although the third subdivision plan submitted by the developer apparently

violated regulations concerning dual frontage lots, P&Z members had the option

of waiving that regulation, if they determined that "unusual topography" came

into play.

P&Z members did not waive that regulation and the proposal was turned down.

That rejection prompted the developer to sue the P&Z early this year in

seeking to get the development approved.

On December 4, Ms Winslow said the commission's regulations concerning dual

frontage needs clarification. Dual frontage lots have frontages on two

streets.

Open Space

The developer's donation of open space land to the private land trust known as

Weantinogue Heritage is an environmentally sound plan, Ms Winslow said. The

application meets the P&Z's land use regulations, she added.

Mr Koch said the developer has made substantial improvements to his

development plan compared to earlier versions of it, warranting its approval

by commission members.

In approving the 19-lot subdivision, P&Z members placed seven conditions on

it: that the plans indicate the 17 lots on which pumped septic systems are

required; that a water well location be indicated for Lot 2; that a proposed

sharp curve in the driveway on Lot 6 be made less sharp; that the project's

road construction bond be set at $662,625; that open space land on the

property be deeded to the land trust; and that no more than 200 cubic yards of

earth materials be removed from Lots 1, 9, and 16, each, except for material

which must be removed for the building foundations and driveway construction.

Mr Fogliano said he isn't convinced that the concerns about dual frontage lots

have been resolved.

In the lawsuit filed earlier this year, DaMota charged the P&Z failed to

assign a proper reason for its denial of the application.

Last January, residents living near the development site at 31-37 Taunton Hill

Road told P&Z members they are concerned that added development in the area

would endanger existing well water supplies, create traffic hazards, and pose

drainage problems on their land.

The first plans for The Estates on Taunton Hill were withdrawn from P&Z

consideration by the developer in February 1996 due to technical deficiencies.

A second submission was withdrawn in June 1996 because the plans were

incomplete. The third version of the subdivision, which was rejected by the

P&Z last February, had been submitted in November 1996.