Eight-Lot Subdivision— 

Hanover Heights’ Second Approval Challenged In Court

By Andrew Gorosko

A local couple has sued the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) again, this time over its second approval of the Hanover Heights residential subdivision, charging that the land use agency illegally approved the eight-lot development for a steep, rugged 28.4-acre site on Hanover Road.

In an administrative appeal filed June 9 in Danbury Superior Court, plaintiffs Kevin Fitzgerald and Robin Lozito Fitzgerald of 24 Old Farm Hill Road sue the P&Z and developer Robert Mastroni of Monroe over the P&Z’s May 18 approval of Hanover Heights at 64 through 74-A Hanover Road. Attorney Joel T. Faxon represents the Fitzgeralds, who own property near the development site.

The town has a July 25 court return date in the case. Attorney Robert Fuller represents the town.

The subdivision would be served by a dead-end street known as Anthony Ridge Road that enters the site from the east side of Hanover Road, near Hanover Road’s intersection with The Boulevard Extension. The development site is near the westbound lanes of Interstate 84.

On May 18, the P&Z approved a second version of Hanover Heights. The P&Z had initially approved Hanover Heights last January, but a court challenge concerning various flaws in that approval, which was filed by the Fitzgeralds, resulted in Mr Mastroni submitting a second application for P&Z review.

The project approved by the P&Z on May 18 is similar to the initially approved version of Hanover Heights, but includes somewhat more open space land than the initial Hanover Heights application, increasing the open space area at the subdivision to approximately two acres. The P&Z also required the developer to provide the town with a $69,000 fee in lieu of other open space.

In the court papers, the Fitzgeralds list 13 separate complaints about the P&Z’s approval of Hanover Heights, charging that the approval amounted to an “improper and baseless decision of the commission, which was arbitrary, contrary to law, and an abuse of discretion.”

Among the various complaints, the Fitzgeralds allege that at an April public hearing on the second version of Hanover Heights, the developer inadequately presented the development application as a whole, failing to prove that the application was sound. The Fitzgeralds also raise various issues concerning open space preservation on the site. They charge that the subdivision approval violates the tenets of the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, among other complaints.

Through the court challenge, the Fitzgeralds seek to have a judge overturn the subdivision approval; have the developer provide 15 percent of the land area in the subdivision as open space land that is suitable for public recreation; have an antique barn now standing on the site preserved in place; prohibit development on the site due to its steepness, and provide other suitable relief. Fifteen percent of the 28.4-acre site would amount to 4.26 acres of open space.

In its May 18 approval of Hanover Heights, the P&Z encouraged but did not require the developer to preserve the barn. The agency also urged the developer to preserve as many of the existing stone walls and healthy large trees as possible during site development.