Date: Fri 11-Jul-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Hawleyville-HVCEO

Full Text:

Hawleyville Development Plan Draws Mixed Reviews

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A planning study that projects development possibilities for Hawleyville

through the year 2017 drew both support and concerns from residents at a

public forum Wednesday night.

About 40 people attended the session where planning consultants described the

Interstate-84 Exit 9 Hawleyville Transportation and Development Study, which

was prepared for the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO)

and the town.

The planners have studied a 1,200-acre section of Hawleyville and are

suggesting various development possibilities for the land, including medical

office space, assisted-living facilities, age-restricted housing,

single-family houses, mixed retail uses, corporate offices, a hotel,

conference center, open space land, a village center and industrial uses.

Elizabeth Stocker, the town's community development director, moderated the

forum.

"It's very difficult to plan private investment and development," she said,

noting that the planning study conceptualizes possible development patterns in

Hawleyville, but cannot state what will actually happen there.

The study seeks to provide a guidebook for possible growth and land

conservation in the area, she said. The plan's provisions aren't fixed and may

be altered as needed, she said.

The planning study addresses long-term development issues which face the town,

region, and state, Ms Stocker said. The study serves several purposes, she

said, noting its focus is to guide growth, preserve natural resources,

maintain property values and encourage economic development.

Ms Stocker said she hopes the study is adopted as an amendment to the plans of

development of the HVCEO, the Housatonic Valley Economic Development

Partnership (HVEDP), and the town's Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

If it were inclined to adopt the Hawleyville plan as an extension of the

town's development plan, the P&Z would conduct a public hearing.

Planner Richard Harrall of Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc, which helped

prepare the study, said traffic volumes on Interstate-84 are expected to

increase. Privately-invested funds will drive the development of Hawleyville,

he said. The town would regulate development proposals as they are submitted.

The most densely built land uses suggested by the study lie south of

Interstate-84. The extension of sewers from the Bethel town line into

Hawleyville would make those land uses possible, Mr Harrall said. The

proposals made in the study don't seek to overdevelop Hawleyville, he said.

Sewers

Richard Zang, a Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) member, asked how

much wastewater the envisioned Hawleyville development would generate. Mr Zang

said the WPCA can't necessarily buy additional wastewater treatment capacity

from Danbury for Hawleyville economic development. Danbury officials would

instead like to have such development occur in Danbury, he noted.

Mr Zang asked which sections of Hawleyville are proposed for initial growth,

noting WPCA members are preparing to delineate the Hawleyville sewer district.

The developmental concepts raised in the Hawleyville planning study pose

serious land use planning issues, he said.

Mr Zang asked the planning consultants to set priorities in terms of the

sequence of development.

Ms Stocker suggested that WPCA members confer with P&Z members on the zone

changes that would be required to develop Hawleyville as shown in the plan.

In response to one resident's concerns about how water would be provided for

added development, Mr Harrall said United Water would extend a water main to

serve the area. Mr Harrall pointed out, however, it is unclear who would pay

to extend those lines.

Resident Jane Macomber of Parmalee Place asked how the study addresses land

conservation issues.

Ms Macomber questioned whether any future development is wise on the tract of

land known as "Area B." "Area B" lies west of Route 25, south and east of

Farrell Road, and north of the Housatonic Railroad tracks. The planners

project 150 assisted-living residences, as well as 50,000 square feet of

office/research space there.

The area is environmentally fragile, Ms Macomber said, adding it should be

preserved as open space land or a park.

Mr Harrall responded that the majority of that land would remain as open

space. But the property is privately owned, he noted. To keep it as park land

would require a public purchase, he said.

Selectman Gary Fetzer asked how the development of Hawleyville would affect

traffic volumes on Route 6.

Transportation consultant Fred Kulakowski responded that current peak hour

traffic counts would increase from approximately 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles.

The selectman also asked about the role traffic signals would play in

Hawleyville's development.

Computer-operated traffic signals, which would be synchronized with one

another, would maximize traffic flow, Mr Kulakowski said.

Resident Michael Snyder of Megan's Circle said the proposals made by the

planning consultants are simply concepts of Hawleyville's possible future. The

study may be useful as a planning tool for 25 to 30 years, he said. What is

proposed isn't going to happen soon, he said.

While everyone may not like everything described in the plan, it represents

"forward thinking," he said.

"This is a long-range plan, and we have to look at it and find the positive

things in it rather than the negative," he said.

Resident Jennifer Wolbach of Old Hawleyville Road said Hawleyville can't

sustain the level of development proposed in the study. Hotels in the region

have faced economic hard times, she said, questioning the study's proposal for

a hotel.

Ms Wolbach said she has spent the last five years fighting various development

projects proposed for Hawleyville, adding she doesn't want to spend the rest

of her life doing so.

"I sit here and get very frustrated by the computer graphics and the phasing

out of people's lives ... I'm pretty frustrated by all of this. ... It's all

nice and fancy, but who's going to use it? ... We're looking for a `pie in the

sky' kind of deal," she said.

Ms Wolbach objected to a proposal in the study to relocate the intersection of

Hawleyville Road, Old Hawleyville Road and Barnabas Road to make it a

conventional four-way intersection, noting it would involve the condemnation

of homes to do so.

In their study, the planning consultants found there is an opportunity for

significant economic development without adversely affecting the basic

character of Hawleyville or overburdening its natural or built environment.

The planning study's primary purpose is to create a modern transportation

management plan and land use study for Hawleyville. The primary goal of the

study is to obtain a balanced match between anticipated land uses and

transportation facilities.