Split Rock Stays Dead End—

Oak Ridge III Subdivision Gains P&Z Approval

By Andrew Gorosko

Following lengthy review, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have unanimously approved the Oak Ridge III residential subdivision, and have decided to allow the nearby Split Rock Road to remain a dead-end street and not be extended to connect with the subdivision.

The project is the largest residential subdivision approved by the P&Z during the past several years.

At a March 19 session, P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean and members Dennis Bloom, Jane Brymer, and Richard English voted to approve the 17-lot Oak Ridge III project on a 79.3-acre parcel of former farmland at 46 Eden Hill Road, near the Easton town line.

A key aspect of that subdivision approval involved whether the nearby dead-end residential Split Rock Road should remain a dead-end street or should be extended to become a through-road linked with new roads in the Oak Ridge III development. Split Rock Road extends westward from Eden Hill Road.

During the past several months, groups of residents from Split Rock Road and from Eden Hill Road have respectively urged that Split Rock Road remain a dead-end road, or instead be converted into a through-road linked to the new subdivision.

Split Rock Road residents have argued that keeping that street as a dead-end road would prevent increased traffic flow there, would protect their safety, and would preserve their properties’ values.

However, Eden Hill Road area residents had urged that Split Rock Road become a through-road and be connected to the proposed subdivision. Those residents say that doing so would lessen the potential traffic pressure and safety hazards on Eden Hill Road that would come with the added traffic generated by a new development.

Whether Split Rock Road is extended into Oak Ridge III would not alter the number of lots in the subdivision. The developers had said they were willing to build the project either with or without an extended Split Rock Road.

Initially, applicants Nick and Gino Vona and also WF Brothers, LLC, presented a subdivision design that extended Split Rock Road into Oak Ridge III. However, Split Rock Road residents’ opposition to that design resulted in the P&Z having the applicants revise their proposal to let Split Rock Road remain a dead-end street.

But after Eden Hill Road residents learned of the road design revisions, they urged the P&Z to extend Split Rock Road into the subdivision.

Both groups submitted petitions to the P&Z to support their points of views.

To clarify the road issue, P&Z members sought a legal opinion from Town Attorney David Grogins. Mr Grogins stated that whether Split Rock Road should remain a dead-end or be extended was at the P&Z’s discretion.

However, Robert Hall, a local attorney who had represented the developers of Split Rock Road in the past, told P&Z members that the land use regulations require that Split Rock Road be extended.

Additionally, both police and fire officials recommended that Split Rock Road be extended for public safety reasons. Extending the road would create more connections in the town’s road network and provide more accessways for emergency vehicles’ use, they said.

Also, through-roads are considered simpler roads to clear during snowplowing than dead-end roads.

Analysis

To analyze the many factors in the dead-end road versus through-road issue, at the March 19 P&Z session Ms Dean created a chart listing the pros and cons of each approach.

An extended Split Rock Road would need to be extended 880 feet to connect with the Oak Ridge III subdivision, Ms Dean said. That roadwork would involve clearing 1.5 acres of land and result in the physical disturbance of about 65,800 square feet of land. The project would involve more than 8,500 cubic feet of earthen cutting and more than 600 cubic feet of earthen filling. The roadwork would require more than 19,000 square feet of pavement and the installation of more than 550 linear feet of drainage pipe, plus the placement of nine stormwater catch basins.

Ms Dean said the amount of traffic that would be generated by Oak Ridge III would have a relatively small effect on nearby roads.

Ms Dean also pointed out that the road design of Oak Ridge III would create two new dead-end roads within that subdivision.

Emergency service personnel generally prefer having through-roads in a given area, she said.

George Benson, the town land use agency director, said, “I’ve always thought it’s a judgment call for the commission to make…There’s a lot of considerations to make…You as a commission have to judge what is more important…You do have the right to decide whether to put the road through.”

 Motion to Approve

In its motion to approve Oak Ridge III, P&Z members decided that although the developers are not  required to extend Split Rock Road into the subdivision, they are required to provide the town with a 50-foot-wide accessway where an extended road would have been built. That accessway would be held in reserve by the town for the future potential construction of a town road.

Also, the P&Z is requiring the applicants to post an $801,700 bond to cover the costs of Oak Ridge III road construction, including Sebastian Trail and Nicolina Way, plus certain surveying work.

The P&Z also specified certain rules concerning the marking of open space areas and conservation easements at the subdivision.

The site planned for development holds mature trees, fields, and forested wetlands. It also holds some stone walls that remain from its former farm uses, as well as some trails. The Oak Ridge III site lies west of Eden Hill Road, south of Oak Ridge Road, and north of Split Rock Road.

One house already stands on the site, alongside Eden Hill Road. The site has R-2 and R-3 zoning, which requires minimum building lot sizes of two acres and three acres, respectively.

The road layout providing access to the new houses would be circuitous, providing a traffic calming effect for vehicles traveling in the subdivision, according to the developer.

The developer proposes constructing four-bedroom houses. Utility lines for electricity, telephone service, and cable television would be buried. Each house would have an individual water well.

The project would be the third phase of the Oak Ridge development. In 1989, the town approved 16 lots in Oak Ridge, Phase I. In 1996, the town approved 28 lots in Oak Ridge, Phase II. The Oak Ridge complex contains large, elaborate houses on heavily landscaped lots.