Local Growth Proceeds, But at A Slower Pace

By Andrew Gorosko

Amid a difficult economy, the rate of residential, commercial, and industrial growth has declined, but local land use agencies continue their review of development proposals, albeit at a slower pace.

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) soon plans to hold a public hearing on local builder/developer Michael Burton’s project known as The River Walk, a proposed 24-unit condominium complex on a 10.2-acre site on the west side of Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center, a project that was in the planning stages through 2008.

A footbridge would cross the Pootatuck River to link the development site at 12 through 20-A Washington Avenue to commercial property at 102 Church Hill Road.

One third of the condo units would be designated as “affordable housing,” meaning that their sale prices or rental prices would be kept below the market rate for comparable housing in the area.

As The River Walk proposal awaits a P&Z hearing, the town is still enmeshed in a court appeal launched by Danbury developer Guri Dauti, whose controversial proposal for a 26-unit condo complex at a rugged 4.5-acre site at 95-99 Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center is known as Edona Commons. Both the P&Z and Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) rejected applications for that project, in which some units would be designated as affordable housing. The project has drawn strong opposition from nearby property owners.

The P&Z soon plans to resume a public hearing on a proposal for a refrigerated warehouse and office complex for Marcus Dairy at an 8.6-acre site 352 South Main Street in Botsford. The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) also is reviewing the proposal.

The $4.5-million development proposal from Marcus Dairy of Danbury would move that firm’s dairy distribution business and corporate office space from Danbury to Newtown.

Marcus Dairy proposes using approximately 33,200 square feet of enclosed space overall at the site. That space would be in the form of a new 16,200-square-foot refrigerated warehouse for dairy products, as well as 17,000 square feet of existing, renovated space on the site. Existing businesses at the site would leave to make way for Marcus Dairy.

In February, the P&Z endorsed a proposal to expand Newtown High School, as well as improve the school grounds, granting the project a special zoning permit. Since then, though, the project has encountered various stumbling blocks.

In May, the P&Z approved the construction of a two-story, 20,000-square-foot office building at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6), near the Bethel town line. P&Z members unanimously approved the project for Mt Pleasant Road, LLC, at a May 15 session.

The office building would employ “green” design aspects to enhance energy efficiency. The structure would have a masonry and glass exterior. Glass would be emphasized on the upper level, with masonry and metal cladding displayed on the ground level.

Equale and Cirone, LLP, an accounting firm, would relocate its Danbury and New Milford facilities to the new office building after it is constructed. A financial services firm also would locate there.

In October, Mr Burton gained P&Z approval for Betts Square, a mixed-use redevelopment project that will renovate and expand a circa 1843 house and add two new buildings to create an office/retail/residential complex at 107 Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center.

The 1.75-acre site abuts the Pootatuck River. The property lies in the Sandy Hook Design District (SHDD) zone. The P&Z created SHDD zoning for Sandy Hook Center in 1995 to foster mixed-use development and redevelopment, as well as provide pedestrian amenities. SHDD zoning is intended to stimulate economic development.

Plans call for expanding the Betts House by extending it to the north, plus constructing two new buildings north of the house. A carriage house and a barnlike structure would be built. The overall project would enclose approximately 16,000 square feet of space, including 9,000 square feet of office space, 5,000 square feet of retail area, and about 2,000 square feet of residential space in the form of three apartments.

Also in 2008, the P&Z approved a change of zone for a 12,500-foot-long section of Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center, which property owners there hope will enhance their properties’ value by broadening its potential uses and thus increasing is economic viability. The street section holds a variety of vintage Colonial and Victorian houses.

The change of zone affects properties on both sides of Church Hill Road in the area between the westbound Exit 10 ramps of Interstate 84 and Church Hill Road’s intersection with Dayton Street. The change of zone allows more potential professional office uses in the area.

In March, after lengthy review, the P&Z approved revisions to the town zoning regulations, which are intended to make the voluminous rules more understandable and easier to use.

Rather than approving the new zoning regulations on a section-by-section basis following the P&Z’s review of their content, the land use agency opted to hold open until March the many public hearings on the rule changes that had been held. The P&Z terms the zoning rule revisions a “comprehensive update and reorganization.”

The definitions used in the new regulations have been expanded and brought up to date with current state law. The technical standards covering a variety of land use zones have been consolidated within the regulations to make the rules easier to understand. Such standards cover topics including traffic, site access management, landscaping, parking, signage, and exterior lighting.

Also, the number of land use zone designations in the rules affecting business, commercial, and professional land uses has been reduced in an effort to simplify the zoning rules.

In August, the P&Z revised the open space regulations, specifying new criteria that the P&Z will use in selecting open space land that is donated to the town when land is subdivided into building lots for residential, commercial, or industrial development. In approving the rule changes, P&Z members endorsed recommendations from the Conservation Commission concerning land protection and design standards.

The open space rule changes place greater emphasis on preserving wildlife habitat as open space, as well as protecting water quality. The rule changes would require a minimum 25-foot width for open space areas.

The open space rule changes provide the P&Z with more flexibility in terms of how open space areas are delineated with signage in the field.

“Open space” is generally defined as land or water areas that are left in their natural state, agricultural land, wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge areas, scenic areas, and areas and facilities intended for noncommercial and nonprofit passive and active forms of public recreation.

In April, the P&Z approved a proposal to redevelop a former residential property at 84 South Main Street into a commercial complex with both office and retail uses.

The 84 South Main Street project involves renovating an existing single-family Victorian-style house on the site for retail uses, constructing a new rustic-style office building for use by a magazine publishing firm, and renovating an existing garage on the site. The project is under construction.

In another commercial application for South Main Street, the P&Z initially “approved,” but then reversed a preliminary approval for the construction of a 13,640-square-foot Walgreens Pharmacy at 47-49 South Main Street, on South Main Street’s northern corner with Mile Hill Road.

Although P&Z members had voted 3-to-2 to approve the application in early November, they later realized that such an approval requires a “super majority” vote of 4-to-1, rather than a 3-to-2 “simple majority” affirmative vote, so they then reversed their earlier approval.

In response, the project’s developer, Newtown Main, LLC, has appealed the reversal in Danbury Superior Court, in seeking to have a judge order the project’s approval.

Some P&Z members’ opposition to the project has focused on the site’s traffic design, including the presence of a drive-through window.

In December, P&Z members approved a proposal for an unnamed seven-lot residential subdivision on a rugged 33.8-acre site at 127 Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy Hook. P&Z members approved the project for the Schultz Family Limited Partnership in a 4-to-1 vote.

The P&Z had rejected an initial nine-lot version of the project in 2006. The developer then proposed an eight-lot version of the subdivision. The P&Z eventually approved a seven-lot design.

The project decreased in scope amid the P&Z’s developmental concerns about the physical effects of construction on the rugged, yet environmentally sensitive site.

In November, P&Z members learned that the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut, Inc, had received initial approvals from the City of Bristol to convert a former labor union hall there into a Buddhist temple and meeting hall.

The society’s past efforts to build a 7,600-square-foot temple/meeting hall at its ten-acre property at 145 Boggs Hill Road in Newtown had met with stiff opposition from nearby residents who mounted a strong campaign against the project, claiming it would be a disruptive land use in the residential area.

In January, the Connecticut Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the P&Z’s February 2003 rejection of the society’s controversial proposal to build the temple/meeting hall on Boggs Hill Road, where the society now has a monastery.

In March, the Borough Zoning Commission, approved a redevelopment project for 5 Queen Street, a dilapidated and largely vacant shopping center that formerly held a Grand Union supermarket.

In October, a Caraluzzi’s Market opened in the space formerly occupied by the Grand Union. Wachovia Bank plans to open its new branch bank in the shopping center in March. Additional tenants are planned for the site.