Date: Fri 10-Jan-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Hawleyville-consultants-growth

Full Text:

Consultants Look Ahead To Development Possibilities In Hawleyville

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

As the highway interchanges along Interstate-84 become more fully developed,

the Exit 9 area of Hawleyville will be scrutinized by developers as a possible

growth site, according to a planning consultant who is studying that area's

economic development potential.

Planning consultant Richard Harrall noted that Hawleyville already has access

to I-84 and vacant land. If sewers are extended to the area, it would make

Hawleyville more attractive to developers and could spur economic growth, he

told about 50 people who attended an informational session on an ongoing study

of Hawleyville's growth potential Tuesday night.

Mr Harrall suggested that sewers be extended into the area south of I-84.

Extending sewers north of I-84 along Hawleyville Road, however, wouldn't make

sense from a planning perspective, he explained. An existing sanitary sewer

line intended for Hawleyville extends from the Danbury sewage treatment plant

to the Bethel-Newtown town line.

"We're not here as proponents for development," Mr Harrall said, explaining

that the study is underway to help the town plan for developmental pressures

that are expected to focus on Hawleyville in the coming years.

The planning study doesn't advocate a certain developmental approach but

describes growth issues which the town will face in the coming years, Mr

Harrall said.

The town's 1993 plan of development calls for economic growth in Hawleyville.

The ongoing planning study of Hawleyville's growth potential is keyed to

market demands for economic expansion, environmental constraints on growth,

and the town's aspirations for development.

Questions

Hawleyville residents who attended the session raised a number of questions

about growth in that largely undeveloped section of town.

Attorney William Denlinger asked why the consultants haven't addressed one

section of Hawleyville in their planning study. That section lies along Mt

Pleasant Road between Pocono Road and Hawleyville Road.

The area largely has B-2 zoning has many physical constraints to development,

Mr Harrall explained. The planners will review that area when making their

final study, he said. "We'll look at it in more detail."

Other concerns voiced by residents included: more development would create

major traffic problems at the intersection of Mt Pleasant Road and Hawleyville

Road; the railroad grade crossing across Hawleyville Road should be improved

to enhance safety; residential sections of Hawleyville should remain

residential; Hawleyville should largely stay as it is; environmentally

sensitive areas should be protected; and the nature, extent and quality of the

Hawleyville aquifer should be considered when planning for future growth.

The planning study not only conceptualizes future potential growth but also

describes what physical changes to roads and intersections would be needed to

make such growth workable.

The presentation Tuesday night included talks from several planners who used

color slides, maps, charts and tables to explain their points.

Mr Harrall suggested that a 300,000-square-foot medical center be built

between 5 and 15 years from now off Mt Pleasant Road, near the Bethel border.

"We believe that the medical center makes sense," he said.

Such a center would consolidate existing medical facilities now located

elsewhere, not add to the medical space that already exists in the area, he

said. He pointed to a large veterans hospital being built in Meriden to

replace the Newington veterans hospital as an example of such medical facility

consolidation. A medical facility doesn't put undue strains on a town's tax

base, he added.

The planners also suggest the construction of a 250-room hotel/conference

center more than 15 years from now on a site north of Mt Pleasant Road, east

of Hawleyville Road, south of I-84, and west of Tunnel Road. Mr Harrall

pointed to the Farmington Marriott as a model for such a facility.

Recommendations

The planners repeatedly told those attending the session that their various

development concepts amount to recommendations.

Transportation engineer Fred Kulakowski said "These are recommendations. It

doesn't mean they actually are going to happen."

"This is just a conceptual plan," said planner Eve Barakos-Landino. Actual

development envisioned in the plan would require town land use approvals, and

in the case of major proposals, would require state approvals, she said.

Physical improvements to transportation facilities envisioned in the plan

would be made only in conjunction with specific development projects, said

Elizabeth Stocker, the town's economic development director.

Comments made by Hawleyville residents will be considered in the planning

process, she said. The planning study is about 60 percent complete.

Work remaining includes: preparing generalized site plans as guides for future

development applicants; preparing a curb cut management plan; making a

cost-benefit analysis to examine the public costs of transportation

improvements versus the tax revenues expected to be generated; and

recommending land use rule changes to coordinate future land uses and

transportation facilities in Hawleyville.

Another public session on the Hawleyville plan will be held, Ms Stocker said.

In the planning study, Barakos-Landino, Inc, describes several developmental

scenarios for Hawleyville extending toward the year 2017, thus creating a

conceptual framework for growth in the largely undeveloped section of town.

A projection of "recent historic market trends" indicates that during the

coming 20-year period, Hawleyville would see the development of about 210

single-family homes; between 32,900 and 41,125 square feet of new office

space; between 3,600 and 4,500 square feet of new industrial space; and

between 113,880 and 142,350 square feet of new store space, according to the

draft planning report.

The area studied generally lies to the north of Mt Pleasant Road, to the east

of the Bethel and Brookfield borders, to the west of Tunnel Road, and to the

south of Currituck Road. The area under study occupies about 1,200 acres or

approximately 3 percent of the town's land area.

The planners say that development in Hawleyville could exceed their

projections for the next 20 years based on several factors because: sites

outside of Hawleyville may be absorbed; extending sanitary sewers to

Hawleyville would increase the prospects for development; land use rule

changes could be adopted to provide development incentives; and the town would

aggressively market Hawleyville as a development site.

Beyond the projections made based on "recent historic market trends,"

Barakos-Landino, Inc has, for analytical purposes, conceptualized the

developmental potential of seven sub-areas within the Hawleyville area leading

up to the year 2017. These areas are now vacant or undeveloped and have the

potential for more intensive development.

The planners suggest short-, medium- and long-term developmental scenarios for

Hawleyville, including the construction of assisted-living facilities for the

elderly; medical offices; single-family housing; corporate offices;

industrial, warehousing and distribution facilities; a medical center; a

hotel/conference center; restaurants; offices; stores; and service businesses.

Appropriate places for such facilities are described in the plan.

The planners describe the transportation facilities which would be necessary

to support the potential growth of Hawleyville.

Such improvements would include the widening of the Interstate-84 bridge which

crosses over Hawleyville Road, as well as the widening of Hawleyville Road

near that bridge.