Zone Change Sought For Hawleyville Parcel

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering a Hawleyville couple’s proposal to convert the zoning designation for their seven-acre Hawleyville Road property from its current R-2 (residential) category to a HCDD-E (Hawleyville Center Design District-East) classification, which would increase the types of land uses allowed there.

John and Priscilla Cascone are seeking a change of zone for their property at 27 and 31 Hawleyville Road. The site lies on the west side of Hawleyville Road, across the street from the Hawleyville Post Office.

Currently, the Cascones live in a house at 27 Hawleyville Road, which also contains a painting contracting business. The adjacent 31 Hawleyville Road is the site of a former chapel, which is now used as office space for naturopathic physicians.

In April 2000, the P&Z revamped the zoning designations in sections of Hawleyville in anticipation of future development there. Among those changes, the P&Z created a HCDD-E zone that is comprised of about 23 acres. That zone extends along the east side of Hawleyville Road northward from Interstate-84 to the area north of the Hawleyville Post Office, and also extends along Barnabas Road. Those areas previously had residential and industrial zoning.

Permitted uses in the HCDD-E zone include retail, personal services, banks, offices, restaurants, museums, galleries, meeting halls, places of worship, parking, and transportation terminals. Certain industrial uses are allowed in the HCDD-E zone through a special exception to the zoning regulations.

P&Z members created HCDD-E zoning to strengthen and encourage the redevelopment and enhancement of a Hawleyville village center.

Through their application, the Cascones are seeking to have the P&Z convert their property on the west side of Hawleyville Road to HCDD-E zoning. In the past, the P&Z had planned to create a HCDD-W zone for land on the west side of Hawleyville Road, but that zoning change never materialized.

Attorney William Denlinger, representing the Cascones at a January 8 P&Z public hearing on the zone change application, told P&Z members the couple has owned the property since 1983. Various physical features on the seven-acre site, such as a pond and wetlands, limit the amount of land that could be developed there, according to the lawyer. The property holds a section of Pond Brook.

In the past, the property contained various commercial uses, Mr Denlinger noted. 

The Cascones would like to use the two existing buildings on the site for professional uses or office purposes, as allowed by the HCDD-E zoning regulations, the lawyer said. The couple has no plans to create a hotel there, he said.

Mr Denlinger said the zone change application is a logical expansion of the existing HCDD-E zone onto the west side of Hawleyville Road. Converting the zoning designation for the Cascone property would buttress the P&Z’s “village concept,” which was the basis for its creating HCDD-E zoning in 2000, Mr Denlinger said.

Neighbors’ Concerns

Some residents who live in the nearby Newtown Hunt residential subdivision expressed concerns about the Cascone proposal for a change of zone.

In June 2000, the P&Z approved Newtown Hunt, a 21-lot residential subdivision, which was later constructed by Toll Brothers, Inc, in a broad wet area on 115 acres in the Pond Brook watershed. Five lots on Pond View Drive in Newtown Hunt abut the western side of the Cascone property. 

In 1995, Joy Brewster had proposed construction of the sprawling, controversial Connecticut Exposition and Performing Events Center (CEPEC) in the area that is now occupied by Newtown Hunt. After strong protests from Hawleyville residents, the P&Z rejected proposed zone changes that would have allowed planning to proceed for the CEPEC project.

At the P&Z’s January 8 public hearing on the Cascone’s zone change request, Robert Brinker, who lives at 7 Pond View Drive, pointed out to P&Z members that the real estate that has been developed within 500 feet of the Cascone property is worth an estimated $4.5 million.

Mr Brinker pointed out that if the Cascone property were to become a commercial complex, that complex unfortunately would lie near the Hawleyville Road entrance to Newtown Hunt.

Jack Magoon of 3 Pond View Drive told P&Z members that his property abuts the Cascone property. The businesses that now exist on the Cascone property do not pose any problems, he said.

Mr Magoon asked, though, what the future might hold for the Cascone property if its zoning designation were changed to HCDD-E. If the property were to contain some retail use in the future, the site would take on a different character than its current use, he said. Mr Magoon said he does not see the need to change the site’s zoning designation.

Joseph Holland of 4 Pond View Drive said he bought a home site in the Newtown Hunt subdivision for the residential aspect of the area. A zone change could adversely affect the area, he said.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil said the agency would act on the Cascone’s zone change application at an upcoming session. P&Z members must consider various technical questions about the site in deciding whether it is an appropriate place for HCDD-E zoning, he said.

Pointing out that the range of land uses allowed by HCDD-E zoning might not be appropriate for the Cascone property, P&Z member Robert Poulin suggested that the panel place certain restrictions on the uses that might be allowed there. Other types of zones allow more limited uses than allowed by HCDD-E zoning.

In a letter to the P&Z, the town’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) endorsed the Cascone’s zone change application. The EDC found that rezoning the property would be in keeping with its goal of attracting businesses to Newtown that are compatible with the community character and local quality of life.