Regency at Newtown—

P&Z Approves 54-Unit Condo Complex For Oakview Road

By Andrew Gorosko

In a split decision, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have approved the construction of a 54-unit age-restricted condominium complex, known as Regency at Newtown, in an environmentally sensitive area on Oakview Road.

At a February 16 session, P&Z members approved the construction project in a 3 to 2 vote. Voting in favor were Chairman William O’Neil, Lilla Dean, and Jane Brymer. Opposed were members Robert Mulholland and Robert Poulin.

Messrs Mulholland and Poulin, however, expressed differing reasons for their negative votes.

Mr Poulin said that he favors the project, but could not endorse an angled driveway design, which is intended to shunt traffic entering and leaving the complex onto the northern end of Oakview Road, near Berkshire Road. Mr Poulin said the driveway design is intrinsically dangerous and would create traffic hazards for motorists. Thus, he voted against the motion to approve the condo complex.

Alternately, Mr Mulholland said he believes that the traffic that the condo complex would generate would worsen existing hazardous traffic conditions on the narrow, hilly, winding Oakview Road, requiring that the project itself be rejected. The complex would have garage spaces for 108 vehicles.

Toll Brothers, a Pennsylvania-based developer, proposes constructing 54 condos for people over age 55 at a 51-acre site at 21 Oakview Road, near Newtown High School. The complex would be visible from the eastbound lanes of Interstate 84 and from Fairfield Hills.

The site is located in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), an overlay zone within which there are many environmental protection regulations due to its location above the Pootatuck Aquifer. The aquifer is the source of two local public water supplies.

Toll Brothers has been seeking various approvals for the condo complex from town agencies since February 2004.

Oakview Road is a narrow, hilly, winding road about 3,500 feet long, which was unpaved until several years ago. It was paved after the town installed sewers beneath the road to provide sewer service to the nearby Newtown High School. The presence of sewers beneath Oakview Road makes possible a high-density development such as Regency at Newtown.

Oakview Road contains about a dozen houses. The road extends from Wasserman Way on the south to Berkshire Road on the north. Oakview Road is used by some motorists as a bypass to avoid the traffic-congested areas near Exit 11 of Interstate 84 and near Newtown High School.

Developer

Following the P&Z’s February 16 vote to approve Regency at Newtown, Dan Walton, Toll Brother’s project manager, said the firm wants to begin site development work by June, and would hope to have initial condo occupancy occur by March 2007.

Once started, the firm hopes to build the project within a two-year span, real estate market conditions permitting, Mr Walton said. The pace of construction would depend upon market conditions, he stressed.

The complex would be constructed in two phases, he said. The price of dwellings remains unclear, he said, adding that the firm is researching the matter. The dwellings would contain about 1,800 square feet of floor area.

Mr Walton said Toll Brothers seeks to construct homes that have “curb appeal,” which impress potential buyers with the structures’ appearance.

“We take great pride in the appearance of our communities,” he said. The site will be heavily landscaped, he said.

Toll Brothers plans to construct 11 residential buildings at the site, ten of which would contain five dwellings each, and one of which would hold four dwellings. The firm will offer three different condominium models at three price levels.

Toll Brothers has a purchase option to buy the site from Watkins Bothers Development Corp.

A key aspect of project planning has involved environmentally protecting the nearby Pootatuck River from stormwater runoff contamination. The river there is a state-regulated Wild Trout Management Area.

Toll Brothers initially proposed Regency at Newtown as an 80-unit complex in early 2004. P&Z, however, rejected a requested change of zone for that project in April 2004, citing the prospect of traffic problems on Oakview Road.

The developer then reduced the project to 60 units and designed traffic measures that would shunt traffic entering and leaving the complex to the northern end of Oakview Road, near Berkshire Road. The developer again sought a change of zone, which P&Z granted in January 2005.

Following the Conservation Commission’s July 2005 rejection of a 59-unit version of the project due to environmental concerns over the proposed construction’s potential adverse effects on the nearby Pootatuck River, the developer appealed that rejection in court. The developer later submitted a 54-unit version of the project, which gained Conservation Commission approval.

P&Z Discussion

On February 16, Mr O’Neil said, “We’ve discussed [the application] a lot.”

“My primary issue is traffic safety, relative to the schools,” Mr Mulholland said. The development site lies near the rear entrance to the high school’s athletic field complex.

Mr Mulholland said he has witnessed some parents stop their vehicles on Oakview Road to drop off their children at the rear entrance to the athletic fields.

Of Oakview Road, Mr O’Neil said, “I drove it a few more times.”

The section of Oakview Road lying between the planned driveway entrance to the condo complex and Wasserman Way to the south is a “narrow and windy road,” Mr O’Neil said.

The driveway design that shunts motorists to the northern end of Oakview Road toward Berkshire Road was created in response to the difficulties of driving on the southern section of Oakview Road, he said.

The Oakview Road section lying south of the planned condo complex driveway is about 3,000 feet long. The northern section of Oakview Road is about 500 feet long. 

Ms Dean observed that the Police Commission, acting as the town’s traffic authority, endorsed the site’s having an angled driveway to encourage motorists to enter and leave the complex via the northern section of Oakview Road, near Berkshire Road.

“I think it’ll work. I really do,” she said. 

Eventually, if the members of some future Regency at Newtown condominium association find that an angled driveway at the complex is unworkable, those association members could petition P&Z to have the driveway modified to a design that perpendicularly intersects with Oakview Road, she said.

However, if P&Z were to initially approve a perpendicularly intersecting driveway, it is unlikely that such a driveway would ever be changed to angled design, if traffic problems should occur, Ms Dean noted.

Mr Poulin, though, predicted that the presence of an angled driveway would prove troublesome. It would pose the prospect of traffic accidents occurring when motorists seek to circumvent that design and turn left from northbound Oakview Road to enter the condo complex, or turn right from the complex to enter southbound Oakview Road, according to Mr Poulin.

Other than his concerns about the driveway design, Mr Poulin said, “I like all other aspects of this [condo complex].”

On February 17, when asked to comment on P&Z’s approval of Regency at Newtown, First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said that the planned construction has been thoroughly reviewed by town officials.

From an economic development standpoint, creating an age-restricted condo complex would be a better use of the site than other possible uses of the property, such as an affordable housing complex or a conventional residential subdivision of single-family houses, he said.

Age-restricted condos would not contain school-age children who require public education.

Mr Rosenthal said, however, the “optimal use” of the 51-acre property would be open space land. 

Conditions Of Approval

In approving Regency at Newtown, P&Z members granted Toll Brothers a special permit to construct the complex.

P&Z determined that the construction and presence of the complex would have no significant adverse impact on the underlying aquifer, provided that the many conditions of approval are observed.

P&Z placed 16 conditions of approval on the project.

P&Z is requiring that the developer donate 13 acres of the 51-acre site to the town as public open space land for passive forms of recreation. Also, the developer must provide a 25-foot-wide public access easement extending from Oakview Road to that open space area. The open space is situated along Pootatuck River.

Conservation easements also must be provided. Open space land, open space access easements, and conservation easements on the site must be clearly marked.

P&Z is also requiring the developer to build a driveway at the complex that will shunt traffic leaving and entering the complex to the northern end of Oakview Road, which leads to Berkshire Road. P&Z specifies various required road signs. The sign for the complex must not be illuminated.

The developer must enter into a roadwork and stormwater drainage improvement agreement for Oakview Road and post performance bonding for such work, if necessary.

The developer must file an environmental protection policy for the aquifer and nearby waterways, which will apply to the site during its preparation and construction. That policy must cover the interior handling and storage of hazardous materials, as well as exterior motor vehicle washing and maintenance, grounds maintenance, and emergency containment procedures for hazardous materials spills. Such a policy would be followed by service workers and by residents of the complex, who would be provided with copies of the policy.

The developer will be required to attach permanent markers to all drywells and stormwater catch basins on the site stating that the devices are located in an aquifer protection area, in order to discourage dumping into such structures.

Condo residents will be required to use individual trash cans for trash collections instead of waste dumpsters.

The developer and the future property owners at Regency at Newtown will be required to meet the minimum standards for land uses allowed within the APD.

Also, the typical roadway cross-sections for private roads on the site must meet the specifications of the town’s road ordinance. That condition of approval did not address town road curvature requirements.

P&Z is requiring the developer to have a private inspector check public utility installations, road construction, and erosion and sedimentation control devices on the site for compliance with the terms of approval.

Before site development starts, the applicant must submit its archaeologist’s findings for the site, as well as the state archaeologist’s review of such findings.

The developer must provide a trail system on the property for use by the complex’s residents.

The locations of the four fire hydrants planned for the site are subject to review by fire officials.

A planned emergency accessway, which will link the site to Oakview Road, must be kept clear for emergency access, must be maintained, and also must be plowed of snow by the future condominium association.

P&Z specified various landscape plantings which must be placed on the site.

The developer also must provide a construction performance bond to P&Z before it receives construction permits for the project.