‘The Woods’

Condo Plan

Hits A Snag

By Andrew Gorosko

Citing technical flaws in a developer’s proposal to construct a 178-unit age-restricted condominium complex in Hawleyville, one Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) member sought to scuttle the pending application at a March 16 public hearing, saying that the P&Z should not spend its time reviewing submissions that do not meet applicable zoning regulations.

Bashert Developers, LLC, of New City, N.Y., in Rockland County is seeking P&Z approval to build The Woods at Newtown, consisting of 132 units of “congregate housing,” and 46 “independent-living” condos for people over age 55 at a 50-acre site at 12-16 Pocono Road. The project would have driveway access from 166 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6).

Near the end of a 165-minute-long P&Z public hearing, P&Z member Sten Wilson, sharply questioned whether the proposed congregate housing apartment buildings meet the zoning regulations’ height limits, saying that the proposed structures are taller than is allowed.

“The height requirements aren’t met…The height requirements are blown straight out the window,” he said.

“Chop one level off this [complex] and we’re close,” he added. The project seeks to squeeze too many dwellings and too many levels onto the site, he said.

“I think this application should be denied in its current form…I don’t think we should continue this [public hearing] further and waste anybody else’s time,” he said.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil then inquired whether any other P&Z members had a similar view of the application.

But there were no takers.

Mr Wilson then urged that P&Z members discuss the flaws in the development application.

“I’m tired of wasting my time on applications like this,” he said.

Mr O’Neil polled members on whether the P&Z should continue the public hearing on The Woods at Newtown at a future session and a majority agreed that it should continue.

“You’re in the minority. We’ll continue the public hearing,” Mr O’Neil told Mr Wilson.

As the March 16 session closed, P&Z member Robert Mulholland agreed to review the application with Mr Wilson to check for flaws.

Review

Since the March 16 meeting, Messrs Wilson and Mulholland met with Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker and Land Use Enforcement Officer George Benson to review the Bashert application.

Ms Stocker said this week that a review of Bashert’s design plans indicates that the project clearly violates the P&Z’s height limits for such construction, reaching a height of 48 feet, instead of the maximum allowable 42 feet.

The application also lacks required information concerning a sanitary sewer connection, a public water supply connection, a fire marshal’s review of the site, and landscaping details, she said.

Also, issues exist over whether the architectural design submitted by the developer meets the definition of “congregate housing” that is used by the P&Z, she said. Congregate housing is a form of residence in which some daily aid is provided to elderly residents.

A memorandum listing various problems with the Bashert application will be submitted to P&Z members and to the developer, Ms Stocker said. The P&Z may conduct a special meeting with the developer to discuss those issues, she said.

Bashert proposes that the congregate housing be located in ten large apartment buildings surrounding a massive courtyard, beneath which there would be covered parking for 272 vehicles. The parking would be located at ground level with a roof atop that parking area functioning as the “courtyard” amid the ten buildings. The project would be served by multiple elevators and fire sprinklers. A 4,500-foot-long loop road would be built on the site.

The 46 independent-living condos would be housed in eight separate buildings, with conventional attached garages. A clubhouse also would be constructed. Approximately 20 acres of the site would be restricted from development under the terms of a conservation easement.

The 50-acre Woods at Newtown site is adjacent to The Homesteads at Newtown, a 100-unit assisted-living apartment building that opened in 2001.

In 2001, The Homesteads had received modified town approvals to build 178 dwellings on the 50-acre site, in the form of 132 congregate units and 46 condos. The Homesteads eventually built 12 age-restricted condos on the property, but they never received certificates of occupancy due to delinquent property taxes. Bashert would demolish those 12 unoccupied condos as part of its development plans for the site.

After entering bankruptcy, The Homesteads lost its assets. Bashert acquired the largely undeveloped 50-acre site last spring for $8.9 million. A separate firm, Newtown Senior Living, LLC, acquired the existing adjacent Homesteads 100-unit assisted-living building for $11.8 million.

Although Bashert wants to build the same number of dwellings as had been planned by The Homesteads, because Bashert has proposed a different site development plan, it must receive new town approvals for its project.

Public Comment

At the March 16 public hearing, resident Barbara Herman of 48 Jo-Al Court at Liberty at Newtown expressed concerns about potential nighttime light pollution emanating from The Woods at Newtown. Liberty at Newtown is a 96-unit age-restricted condo complex located on a 40-acre site at 178 Mt Pleasant Road.

“I just don’t want that [Woods at Newtown] to turn into Wal-Mart’s parking lot” in terms of night lighting, Ms Herman said.

Charles Merrifield of 26 Pocono Road said he expects that he will see a very tall 15-unit congregate housing apartment building located at The Woods at Newtown when looking toward the site from Pocono Road.

Mike Toll of 4 Pocono Road said the proposed condo complex would be near his home. “We’re going to be seeing a lot of this project,” he said. The 48-foot-tall roof of a congregate housing apartment building will be visible from Pocono Road, he said.

Mr Toll asked about the nighttime illumination planned for the 50-acre site. The property is a depleted sand-and-gravel mine that is now overgrown with brush.

Linda Macbeth of 49 Jo-Al Court posed questions about garbage collection at the proposed complex, as well egress from the buildings in the event of a fire. Ms Macbeth said the architectural style proposed for the complex is out of character with local architecture.   

Walt Jamoga of 40 Jo-Al Court asked questions about the distance of buildings between Liberty at Newtown and The Woods at Newtown.

Morgen McLaughlin of 14 Alberts Hill Road commended Bashert Developers for the quality of its architectural design.

Developer Responds

In response to the public’s questions, architect Conrad Roncati, representing the developer, said there would be 600 feet of separation distance between The Woods at Newtown and Liberty at Newtown. There would be wooded areas remaining between the two age-restricted condo complexes, he said.

Lighting fixtures on The Woods’ site would have their illumination directed downward toward the ground, he said. The developer will comply with the “Dark Sky” lighting standards, he said.

The structures at The Woods at Newtown would be served by fire sprinklers, said landscape architect David Dixon, representing the developer.

In view of concerns raised on March 7 by the Police Commission about the proposed private road layout for the condo complex, Mr O’Neil inquired about road widths and the passability of an access road located near the Homesteads’ assisted-living building.

The developer’s traffic consultant will address those matters, Mr Roncati said. The consultant is slated to meet with the Police Commission on April 4 to discuss traffic aspects of the project.

The P&Z hearing on The Woods at Newtown is scheduled to resume on April 20.