Date: Fri 20-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Walnut-Tree-Village

Full Text:

Developers Seek 150-Unit Expansion Of Walnut Tree Village

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The developers of Walnut Tree Village, an 80-unit condominium complex at 26

Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy Hook, are seeking Conservation Commission

approval to build another 150 units on an adjacent 34 acres.

The Conservation Commission is expected to conduct a public hearing on the

application sometime in May.

Besides Conservation Commission approval, applicant Louis DeFilio would need

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and Water Pollution Control Authority

(WPCA) approvals to expand the complex for older citizens to a total 230

units.

Mr DeFilio is seeking Conservation Commission approval to do construction work

in wetland areas. He wants Conservation Commission endorsement to build an

entrance road across a wetland area and watercourse, fill in a pond and

wetland area, cross a wet area with another entrance road, remove 660 cubic

yards of earthen material, and deposit 1,280 cubic yards of earthen material.

About 0.17 acres of the 0.45 acres of wetlands at the site would be altered.

Approximately 385 linear feet of stream channel would be modified. A

stormwater retention basin would be constructed.

The project, known as Walnut Tree Village II, would be built in the area

surrounded by Walnut Tree Hill Road, Church Hill Road, Dayton Street and Rocky

Glen State Forest. The site is near Patriot Ridge Road.

About 4,940 feet of new roadway would be constructed with the names Julia

Court, Haley Lane and Louis Hill.

The property is in an EH-10 zone, a zone created for housing for the elderly.

EH-10 zones allow far greater building densities than typical residential

zones. EH-10 zones are designated for residences for people over 55.

Walnut Tree Developers, LLC, the development company that created the initial

80 units at Walnut Tree Village, would provide primary access to the

additional 150 units from Church Hill Road and secondary access from Walnut

Tree Hill Road, south of the driveway that leads to the existing Walnut Tree

Village.

Spath-Bjorklund Associates, Inc, of Monroe is the engineering firm that drew

site plans for the project.

The site previously was an estate containing a residence, outbuildings, a

swimming pool and extensive landscaping. It is surrounded by residential

areas.

The sharply sloped property contains five wetland areas which are wooded. It

has watercourses and man-made ponds.

The 150 units would be served by the United Water public water supply system

and by municipal sanitary sewers, according to the development application.

In the first phase of construction, 92 condo units would be built. They would

be served by a community septic system regulated by the state Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP).

When municipal sewers become available to the developers, the community septic

system would be abandoned, and the remaining 58 units would be constructed.

Stormwater runoff from the new complex would drain into the Pootatuck River.

Walnut Tree Developers used a similar approach in building the 80 units at the

18-acre Walnut Tree Village.

The initial 35 units of that project were connected to a community septic

system. When sewer service became available, the 35 condos were disconnected

from that system and construction started on the remaining 45 condos. The

developers are now completing that project. The developers initially had

sought 90 units, but P&Z members reduced the number to 80 after deciding 90

units made for too dense a development.

The P&Z approved the 80-unit Walnut Tree Village in early 1995.

In February, P&Z members turned down a requested zoning amendment that would

have created regulations to allow two-story dwellings in elderly housing

zones. Current zoning regulations allow only one-story dwellings in EH-10

zones.

P&Z members decided the zoning amendment was being sought for economic reasons

and that one-story units are more practical for an elderly population.

Last fall, Mr DeFilio and his development partner, George Trudell, met with

WPCA members to explore building an additional 150 units.

Mr DeFilio has said the developers will await the final version of the town's

sewer regulations before seeking WPCA permission to connect the 150 units to

the town sewer system.

Fred Hurley, town public works director, said Wednesday the WPCA decides such

requests for sewer connections on a case-by-case basis. Mr Hurley administers

the sewer system.

The developers gained access to the town sewer system by extending a

1,500-foot-long sewer transmission line down a neck of land on their site with

frontage on Church Hill Road. After the P&Z approved Walnut Tree Village in

early 1995, the developers sued the town to gain legal leverage in getting the

project connected to the town sewer system.