The new Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee had its first meeting of the year at the Newtown Senior Center on the evening of January 9.

Two local developers and a commercial real estate expert were invited to share their insight on the potential commercial, housing, and mixed-use (housing with commercial elements) options for the property. The committee also welcomed feedback from the crowd of more than 20 community members present.

Much like its previous incarnations, the current Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee’s mission is to examine future uses for the property.

Expert Advice

According to the official Fairfield Hills website, since the 185-acre campus was purchased from the State of Connecticut in June 2001, it has been utilized for municipal, cultural, and recreational uses and is seeking private commercial purposes.

Committee chair Deborra Zukowski led the night’s discussion, throwing out the question to the guests at the meeting, “Why or why not would developers or commercial enterprises be interested in Fairfield Hills?”

Newtown resident and commercial real estate broker/advisor Bryan Atherton of Coldwell Banker explained that development is demand-driven, and right now, there is a great market, but that “markets don’t last forever.”

Mr Atherton recommends Fairfield Hills have “infrastructure at its highest and best use, and then perform a market analysis.”

Also offering insight to the discussion was real estate developer Chris Hottois of Flint Ridge Development LLC, who put together a slideshow presentation.

He projected the original master plan on the screen, which identified segments of the campus that were designated for potential commercial development. He then went on to show an updated aerial map of the current property.

The biggest challenges Mr Hottois found when examining the campus was “uncertainty” of the property’s identity, the costs related to demolition, and the dated/lack of infrastructure. Other additional challenges he assessed were site lines and lack of visibility from the road, the ingress/egress not being conducive for heavy traffic, and a lack of parking.

Public Input

In the first opportunity for public participation, community member Walt Motyka, in the audience, asked what the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee’s ultimate goals would be and how needed funds would become available.

Committee vice chair Neil Chaudhary answered, “We are purely in a fact-finding mode right now. We haven’t debated any usage or anything… Our goals are to review and see what changes, if any, need to be made [to the master plan].”

Later in the night, during an impromptu burst of public participation, the topic of finances in relation to preparing the property was discussed, as was doing a market analysis.

Land Use Agency Director of Planning George Benson said, “What this all comes down to, really, is the finance of what we want to do. In a perfect world, we’d put the infrastructure in, sewer in, knock all the buildings down, and set up a plan… [but] we can’t get state funding unless we have someone ready to move into a building.”

Members in the audience shared varied opinions on if housing would be financially beneficial for the property.

Others that voiced their opinions about potential uses including building a mall, a mental health facility or medical-related operation, townhomes, restaurants, or letting it remain largely open.

Upcoming Meeting

The next Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee meeting will take place Tuesday, January 22, at 7 pm, in the Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road.

“The next meeting is focused on a conversation with the public to help us get ready to prepare a questionnaire for the community,” Ms Zukowski said. 

The developer unable to make the January 9 meeting, Phil Clark, will be invited to speak at one of the upcoming meetings, she added.

For more information about the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee, visit newtown-ct.gov/fairfield-hills-master-plan-review-committee-0 or e-mail committee chair Deborra Zukowski at debz.newtown.ct@gmail.com.

For the full length article, see the January 18, 2019, or purchase at local selling points.https://classadz.vdata.com/NewtownCTCirc/SelectOption.aspx print edition of the paper. Subscribe at