Date: Fri 06-Dec-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Newtown-Village-affordable

Full Text:

December 11 Hearing Set On Resubmitted Affordable Housing Application

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

D&H Homes, LLC, of New Milford, and Fairfield 2000 Homes, Corp, of Stamford,

have submitted a second application to the Conservation Commission for the

proposed 100-house Newtown Village complex in Sandy Hook.

The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the controversial

proposal Wednesday, December 11, at 8 pm in the Town Hall South conference

room, 3 Main Street.

Owners of the Sandy Hook property are Berkshire Partners, LLC, of New Milford;

the D'Addario Family Trust; and William and Kathleen Kuban. D&H Homes is the

agent for the owners.

In the face of strong opposition to the proposal, the developers withdrew

their initial application after a November 13 public hearing. The applicants

withdrew a "short form" application and have replaced it with a "long form"

application.

The developers are seeking Conservation Commission approval to alter wetlands

on the 32-acre parcel where they want to build 100 homes, 25 of which would be

designated as "affordable housing." The former sand-and-gravel mine lies

within the area bounded by Berkshire Road, Bishop Circle, Philo Curtis Road,

and the eastbound on-ramp at Interchange-11 of Interstate-84.

The new application contains essentially the same information as the initial

application, according to John Horton, D&H Homes manager.

In the latest plans, the developers have widened a buffer zone between the

proposed development and neighboring properties.

An engineer and soil scientist presented detailed explanations of the wetlands

work the applicants want to do on the site to the Conservation Commission at

the first public hearing. The construction would involve building a road over

an intermittent watercourse, as well as doing some filling and grading work.

An "insignificant" amount of wetlands construction is proposed, according to

the developers.

The developers want to build detached, cluster-style housing ranging in size

from 1,300 to 2,200 square feet to be marketed in the $140,000 to $200,000

price range. The "market value homes" priced nearer $200,000 would subsidize

the "affordable homes" priced nearer $140,000, thus giving the developers a

financial incentive to build the "affordable housing." A state law encourages

developers to build housing complexes in which at least 25 percent of the

homes are designated for moderate-income families.

"This type of housing will provide: a step up for those people now occupying

attached condominiums; the ownership opportunity for first-time home buyers

(who) have been priced out of traditional single-family subdivisions; and a

simpler life style for those people whose children are grown," according to

the developers.

The developers want to use five home styles and employ reconfigured floor

plans and facades so that the homes look similar, but aren't identical. Front

porches and Victorian design elements would be used. The houses would be

positioned to provide the maximum amount of space between adjacent homes,

according to D&H and Fairfield 2000.

Opposition

More than 20 percent of the site would have impervious surfaces such as

pavement and roofs, according to Christopher Smith, a lawyer who formerly

represented several nearby residents who oppose Newtown Village. Almost all

rain hitting those impervious surfaces would run off them, he said. That

runoff carrying contaminants from the developed area would enter wetlands on

the site and eventually get into area groundwater and the Pootatuck Aquifer,

damaging the quality of the underground drinking water source, he said.

Mr Smith has termed the construction project "a very aggressive and

overdeveloped proposal."

According to Barbara Obeda, an environmental analyst hired by the neighbors,

having a community septic system serving 100 houses on the site would damage

groundwater quality.

In a November 27 letter to First Selectman Robert Cascella, Michael Gorski of

Bishop Circle, president of the newly-formed Sandy Hook Neighborhood

Coalition, stresses that group's strong opposition to Newtown Village.

Questioning whether the Conservation Commission is impartial about the

development proposal, Mr Gorski asks that an independent environmental

consultant be appointed to advise the commission on Newtown Village.

"There is a serious problem with the application now before Newtown's

Conservation Commission. Be assured that Sandy Hook Neighborhood Coalition

will continue our legal right to oppose this ill-considered application," Mr

Gorski writes.