Date: Fri 15-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-NNC-regulation-change

Full Text:

with cut:Neighborhood Coalition Presses For Zoning Regulations Changes

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Newtown Neighborhoods Coalition members are preparing for a December 5

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) meeting at which P&Z members will field

public comments on the coalition's proposed land use rule changes intended to

curb the residential growth rate by reducing potential housing densities.

Coalition members met with P&Z representatives Tuesday night to discuss the

coalition's ideas on limiting residential growth to preserve the local quality

of life.

The coalition is an umbrella group composed of several neighborhood

associations concerned about the pace of residential growth.

Coalition member Eric Roundy stressed the importance of the citizens group

exerting political pressure to change the land use regulations. Mr Roundy is a

founding member of the Rocky Glen Area Association, a group which formed in

response to the Whispering Pines development project in Sandy Hook.

Coalition members want the P&Z to "upzone" residential zones, in effect,

decreasing the potential housing densities in large sections of town by

increasing the minimum residential lot sizes.

Coalition members want to upzone areas with: R-« Acre zoning to R-1 Acre; R-1

Acre to R-2 Acres; and R-2 Acres to R-3 Acres. Such changes would greatly

decrease potential housing densities.

Also, the coalition wants to: greatly reduce the number of houses allowed on

dead end streets; make it difficult to develop rear lots in residential areas;

require that developers donate only useful land as open space in subdivisions;

and reduce the allowable steepness of roads and driveways.

"We do not have time to wait. In the next 12 to 14 months... it'll be moot,"

Mr Roundy said of the need to move swiftly on the proposed rule changes.

He also argued that it is unfair that developers have up to two years to

prepare a development proposal when neighborhood groups sometimes have only

two weeks to respond to such proposals.

The fairness issue comes amid other issues posed by development, including

construction densities; domestic well water supplies; increased property

taxes; and damage to the local rural character, according to Mr Roundy.

If they had the money to mount legal challenges to development projects,

neighborhood associations would prevail in their opposition to development, he

said.

Attorney Angela Twombly urged neighborhood groups that oppose development

projects to enlist the services of environmental experts to testify on their

behalf at town land use agency hearings.

Ms Twombly has represented the Meadows Acres Area Association in its

opposition to an expanded Meadow Acres subdivision in Sandy Hook. The P&Z was

scheduled to act on the Meadow Acres proposal at its November 14 meeting,

after the deadline for this edition of The Bee. Meadow Acres involves creating

10 building lots on 20 acres on Philo Curtis Road and JoMar Drive.

Mr Roundy suggested that the P&Z require developers to pay a fee to the town

so the P&Z can hire independent experts to analyze environmental aspects of

development projects.

Kurt Gillis, who heads the coalition's land use rules committee, said that

imposing several strict new development restrictions would effectively inhibit

local residential growth.

"We're doing what we can because no one else is," he said.

Approving only one of the colaition's proposed rules wouldn't accomplish the

coalition's goals, he said. All of the proposals have to be put in force if

residential growth is to be curbed, he noted.

Roadblocks

But the coalition has run into some roadblocks to its sweeping upzoning

proposal, the centerpiece for decreasing potential housing densities

throughout town.

"Upzoning is a Pandora's box," P&Z Chairman John DeFilippe told coalition

members.

Upzoning most residential zones in Newtown would make most of Newtown

"non-conforming" to the town's land use regulations, Mr DeFilippe said.

"When you upzone, you're affecting someone else's property," he said. Almost

all local property owners would have to be notified by certified mail if their

properties were to be the subject of upzoning proposals at a public hearing,

he said.

P&Z members are considering the possibility of changing R-2 Acre residential

zoning in undeveloped sections of town to R-3 Acre residential zoning, in

light of the presence of underground water supplies, Mr DeFilippe said.

Every regulation which the coalition has proposed is designed to reduce

potential residential density, Mr Gillis said.

Ironically, in a climate where there is public pressure to limit residential

growth, many developers have expedited their subdivision proposals to have the

P&Z review the proposals before the P&Z tightens its regulations, Mr DeFilippe

said. Developers may have submitted several years worth of construction

projects to the P&Z recently to avoid rule changes, he said.

"Some of the regulations are going to be changing," Mr DeFilippe noted.

Joseph Kelly of the Taunton/Dodgingtown Neighborhood Association stressed the

important role that adequate well water supplies play in connection with

development proposals.

"Without water, you're house is useless," Mr Kelly said.

At a recent P&Z public hearing, residents of the Taunton Hill Road area

expressed fears that the proposed Wedgewood subdivision would jeopardize their

well water supplies. P&Z action on Wedgewood is pending.

State Representative Julia Wasserman said "Water is a very complex issue."

Mrs Wasserman has helped form a state task force that will identify ways that

municipalities can manage underground water resources in light of continuing

development.

Mrs Wasserman said that Newtown residents who have domestic water well supply

problems don't always make their problems known to public agencies that deal

with water supplies. "There's an underreporting of water problems in Newtown,"

she said.

The task force plans to provide municipalities with guidelines on water

management. Towns will be able to adopt new rules on water supply management

if they choose, she said.

One resident attending the coalition meeting suggested that the P&Z require

developers to drill productive wells in subdivisions before houses are built

to ensure adequate water supplies are available to new homeowners.