Following a third public hearing on a proposal to construct 74 condominium units on the west side of Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center, the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) on May 27 unanimously approved a wetlands/watercourses protection permit for the project known as The River Walk at Sandy Hook Village.

IWC members approved the project after receiving and reviewing several additional development documents from applicant Michael Burton. Those environmental protection documents concern the plantings planned for the site; the measures that would be taken to protect the water quality of the nearby Pootatuck River, which is a trout stream; how rain gardens at the site would be maintained; and a schedule for various site maintenance work.

IWC member Sharon Salling complimented the applicant on the clarity and detail provided in those plans which addressed various questions that been posed about the project.

IWC Chairman Mary Curran said the agency has thoroughly reviewed the application.

The River Walk project would contain six buildings situated on an 11.8-acre site at #10 through #22 Washington Avenue, a site which lies generally east of the meandering Pootatuck River.

Having received IWC approval, the applicant still requires approval from the Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) for connecting the complex to municipal sanitary sewers; approval from Aquifer Protection Agency (APA) concerning environmental protection measures to be taken in light of the site’s presence in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD); and approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for a special permit for an Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) multifamily housing complex.

In such complexes, at least 20 percent of the dwellings must be designated as affordable housing. In the case of River Walk, that would translate into at least 15 affordable housing units.

The P&Z approved the IH-10 regulations earlier this year. 

In January 2009, Mr Burton, a local developer/builder, had gained P&Z approval to construct The River Walk, a proposed 24-unit multifamily complex on 10.2 acres at 12 through 20-A Washington Avenue. But that complex was never constructed due to the economic downturn.

The new IH-10 zoning regulations allow a much higher construction density at a given site, resulting in the plans for the current project more than tripling the number of proposed dwellings from 24 to 74 units.

The IWC’s May 27 permit approval, in effect, was a modification of a 2008 approval which it granted for the 24-unit proposal. The May 27 approval lists a range conditions that the applicant must meet in terms of developing the site.

A major condition is that protective buffer strips would be demarcated adjacent to the wetlands and the watercourses at the site for environmental protection purposes.

Also, among the ten other conditions: erosion and sedimentation controls must be installed before construction begins and must be maintained during construction; the site plans cannot be altered unless  approved by the IWC or its agent; and an environmental management consultant must be hired by the developer to implement and maintain the erosion and sedimentation control plans.   

At May 13 public hearing on the River Walk application, a representative of the Candlewood Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited had raised various questions concerning the environmental protection of the nearby Pootatuck River. The group is a private nonprofit organization that works to protect the water quality of coldwater fisheries, such as the Pootatuck River.

The applicant later formally responded to the issues, explaining steps to be taken to ensure riverine water quality.

The WSA is expected to resume its review of the sewering request for the River Walk project at its June 11 meeting.

The applicant is seeking to reserve 9,250 gallons of daily wastewater treatment capacity at the town’s sewage treatment plant for the River Walk project.