P&Z Expected To Turn Down Tilson Woods

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members appear poised to turn down a developer’s request for a 40-lot residential subdivision off Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook, after determining that the construction plans are incomplete.

 P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano said February 3 the plans for Tilson Woods submitted by Tilson Financial, LLC, are so incomplete it would be unwise for the P&Z to approve them. It would be difficult for the town to enforce the numerous construction stipulations that would be required if such plans were approved, he added.

P&Z members provided many time extensions to the developer and reviewed three different sets of maps for the project, but the application remains incomplete, Mr Fogliano said.

“I think the best thing to do with this [application] is to deny it… I’m uncomfortable with approving an application that’s so incomplete,” the chairman said.

Tilson Financial simultaneously submitted plans for the subdivision to the P&Z and Conservation Commission last June, just before the town’s revised, tougher aquifer protection regulations took effect. The property lies in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD).

If the developer were to reapply for the project after a rejection, the number of lots allowed would be cut in half, because the revised aquifer protection rules call for minimum two-acre house lots in that area. When the developer applied in June, the minimum lot size for most of the development sites was one acre.

Aspects of the application were “rushed” by the developer to beat the deadline for the revised aquifer regulations, Mr Fogliano said.

“It needs a lot of fine tuning,” he said.

The long, narrow 61-acre site runs along the northern side of Interstate-84, eastward from Washington Avenue to Philo Curtis Road. The property is adjacent to Treadwell Park.

In order to keep active the application, which was submitted before the revised aquifer rules took effect, the developer made many revisions to the proposal at the request of town land use agencies, and eventually received a wetlands approval for the project from the Conservation Commission last September.

P&Z member Robert Taylor said that changes made to the project by Tilson Financial after conferring with town land use officials made it a better application. But there have been many changes in the design plans, he added.

 “I feel that we gave them [applicants] more than ample time and opportunity to make it a good application,” Mr Fogliano said.

Typically, when a development application has problems, the P&Z asks a developer to withdraw the plan and submit a revised version that corrects the problems. In the case of Tilson Woods, however, such a withdrawal and resubmission would mean that the number of lots allowed on the parcel would be cut in half, so the developer sought to revise the plan, as needed, to keep the application alive.

In a January 31 memorandum to the P&Z, Elizabeth Stocker, the agency’s planner, listed aspects of the proposal that are incomplete. Information is lacking concerning erosion and sediment controls; zone lines; building setbacks; lot numbering; the removal of a structure; a roadwork agreement with the town; drainage calculations; driveway modifications; stormwater detention basins; road changes; fire suppression tanks; dry wells; cutting and filling needed for roadwork; and the grading plans and design plans for a proposed soccer field.

In December, it appeared the longstanding development proposal had gained some new life when Tilson Financial proposed including major public recreation facilities in the project.

The developer proposed decreasing the number of lots from 41 to 40, and also increasing the amount of open space in the project. Tilson proposed creating a soccer field and cross-country running course on the site.

P&Z members then appeared receptive to the developer’s proposal for extensive recreation facilities next to a town park, and advised the applicant to confer with town recreation officials on the proposal.

At the February 3 session, however, Mr Fogliano said the town’s Parks and Recreation Department was not willing to accept a cross-country course that crossed so many streets. Mr Fogliano also raised questions about whether a soccer field is feasible on what is now relatively steep terrain.

P&Z members are expected to act on the Tilson Woods application at an upcoming session.