At the Thursday, January 15 Newtown Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, Matt Ariniello, Newtown Community Center director, approached the commission regarding the construction of a splash pad and corresponding maintenance building for the center.

At the start of the meeting, Ariniello presented his site plan. He explained that half of the funding is coming from STEAP, or Small Town Economic Assistance Program. The proposal has also gone through the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council. Presenting the plan to P&Z was the last step for Ariniello.

He passed out copies of the plans to each commissioner and then described the plans. The maintenance/storage building will be about 1,400 square feet and include a bathroom for public use. This way, those who are using the splash pad do not have to enter through the community center to use the restrooms inside. Ariniello described it as a “convenience” for the community.

Brian Gottschalk, an architect with Weston & Sampson, went over the storage facility. It is a type 5B building with ample room for pool supplies as the community center currently does not have the space for storage, and mechanical storage for the splash pad. The storage building has been presented to Fairfield Hills Authority and approved.

David Rosen, chair of P&Z, said, “My assumption here is we’re talking about something that will be after the school year’s over and before the school year starts.” Ariniello responded that it would be open Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Rosen then asked about water consumption, and if the splash pad would be a recycled system.

“There’s two different options you can go with. One is a recycled system, and one is wastewater. We’ve decided to make the investment up-front and go with the recycled system,” Ariniello replied.

Ariniello added that he is working with Fairfield Hills Authority regarding traffic, as he suspects the splash pad will “drive more traffic to the campus.”

Commissioner Peter Schwarz asked to double check if the Fairfield Hills Authority had any objections to the design, and Ariniello said the authority did not. He said that he and his team took the authority’s suggestions into consideration and made some suggestions to present the final design to P&Z.

Commissioner Roy Meadows then asked if the design has been reviewed by the Design Advisory Board, to which Ariniello said no. Meadows asked if it was something that they would consider. A conversation regarding the Design Advisory Board and Fairfield Hills Authority then ensued. Rob Sibley, director of Land Use and Planning, explained that it is not a requirement for Ariniello to go to Design Advisory Board regarding this project.

Following this brief discussion, which was expanded upon after closing the public hearing, Joseph Perugini, senior project manager at Weston & Sampson, went over the specifics of the water service line, how the system works, and how the rain diverter will keep rain water out of the public sanitary system. Ariniello also explained that the health department and State Department of Health will sign off on this project.

Charlie Gardner, the newly appointed republican alternate, asked about windows and doors on the maintenance building. Ariniello explained there will be windows for concessions in case the community center wants to offer that in the future.

Rosen then opened the meeting up for public comment, of which there was none. The conversation regarding Design Advisory Board resumed.

“I don’t really understand exactly what the building looked like, but I was just wondering if it really…is gonna fit in with everything. I don’t see any reason why this shouldn’t be looked at, reviewed briefly by … Design Advisory Board,” Meadows said.

Rosen countered that it has been reviewed by Fairfield Hills Authority and he does not think it will be visible from the front of the building.

Meadows replied that it would be visible from the senior center side. He said, “I don’t see how [going to Design Advisory Board] would hurt.”

Manville said that it has already been reviewed by Fairfield Hills Authority. Meadows said he was unsure of what the authority considers, but is familiar with what the Design Advisory Board considers.

Manville asked Schwarz what he thought. Schwarz said that the authority did look at it and had no objections, “But, if Roy insists, I don’t think it’s really gonna be a big waste of time. It might be useful.”

Rosen suggested adding a contingency for approval. The commission then moved to approve the application with the condition, “The applicant shall meet with Newtown Design Advisory Board for a review of the maintenance building.”

The application was approved unanimously.

Subdivision At 49 Great Ring Road

The last application on the agenda for January 15 was a subdivision of 49 Great Ring Road. The application is for four homes on roughly ten acres of land.

Alan Shepard, the engineer representing the applicant, went through some of his presentation with the commission and the audience. At the last meeting Shepard presented at, his application was not complete, pending a letter of approval from Town Engineer John Curtis. Curtis’ letter of approval was submitted and was on file for the commission to view.

Shepard then moved to go over his plans. He showed a map of the grading, houses, and septic systems. He said, “Just to remind everybody, first subdivision we do a potential — we just have to show it’s a potential building lot. It’s probably not going to be the finished product as whoever will come in will have their house, and we change these around … for a subdivision process, classically, we show that it can be done, doesn’t mean that that’s what will be built.”

Shepard also showed a sight line map to the crowd, as well as a driveway map. He included soil tests and their results and the open space which was deeded back in the 80s when the manor was first built.

Rosen then asked the commission if there were any questions. Meadows asked about drainage systems and if the system would be able to handle a storm like the 1,000-year storm on August 18, 2024. Shepard replied that the system is “not designed to” handle that amount of rain, as most systems are not. He explained a little bit about the flow pattern of stormwater. Shepard added that each lot will have to come back for a specific site plan, and each of those specific site plans will include drainage plans and maps, and will take into consideration the surrounding areas.

Commissioner Don Mitchell then asked for clarification on what Shepard was seeking, “If the subdivision is approved, I thought I heard something about further site plan review.”

Shepard replied, “We show a feasible [site plan].” He explained that his job is to show that the plot can be subdivided successfully, and each homeowner that buys a lot would have to submit an individual site plan as one may want a pool or to have accessory structures, for example.

Following this brief discussion, Rosen opened the meeting up for public comment.

Sammuel Grummons was the first to speak. He asked about the size of the lot, saying, “Four homes. Fourteen acres, right? We’re talking fourteen acres?”

Rosen answered that it is two acres per home.

Grummons continued, “Two meetings with significant public comment opposing the subdivision. It’s no wonder we have a housing crisis in this state, not because four homes will fix the housing crisis, they will not. I worry that if we’re having two meetings to debate four homes on ten acres, then we are making housing functionally impossible in this town.”

He added, “You can approve the subdivision, which meets your regulations … .or you can let blatant, shameless NIMBY-ism win. But, if you choose the second option, please, I ask you to just be honest about it. Don’t hide behind traffic studies or environmental review or needing more information. Just be honest … If this doesn’t get approved tonight, this is not a planning and zoning commission. It’s an exclusion commission.”

Following Grummons’ comments, Rosen clarified that the reason this application was extended another meeting was because it was incomplete at the time of submission.

Rich Krikorian spoke next. He said his well is 75 feet from the proposed septic fields. He is concerned because the area is “all wet.” He said he does not believe there will be sufficient drainage. He also asked when the soil tests were performed, stating he was not sure if they were from the 80s when the original house was built. Sibley informed him the tests were done on July 15, 2025.

Rosen then closed the public hearing.

Mitchell said, “You know, we have been dealing recently with multiple high-density developments. The POCD talks about maintaining the rural character of Newtown, and that connotes with less density.” He added that it seems like it is a “pretty fair deal,” and asked how the commission could tell someone with such low density that they could not develop ten acres. Manville and Schwarz agreed.

Meadows said, “It’s two-acre zoning, and we’ve got two acres. Good place for four houses.”

Rosen then hosted a vote to approve the subdivision of 49 Great Ring Road into four two-acre lots, which passed unanimously.

More coverage of this meeting will be featured in next week’s edition of The Newtown Bee.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.