Following a public hearing on February 19, the Legislative Council approved an application to name Stone Bridge a scenic road.

The council approved the application on a 9-2 vote, with Democrat Laura Miller and Republican John Zachos voting against.

Resident Aliya Hafiz, who submitted the application, noted that the section to be designated as scenic constitutes 60% of the total road, double the 30% threshold. She noted that the road was calculated as 2,383 feet up to the Iroquois gas pipeline, but the town only maintains 1,574 of the road.

Developer Mike D’Amato disagreed with that assessment, saying he owns 1,800 square feet of frontage along Stone Bridge Trail. D’Amato is looking to build seven homes on his property at 3 Stone Bridge Trail, of which other road residents have expressed concerns, particularly around blasting of ledge near the gas pipeline. D’Amato agreed to pave up to the driveway to his subdivision as part of the conditions of approval. The section to be designated scenic is the area that will not be paved.

D’Amato also asked the town to enforce its ordinance requiring the applicant to have a driveway on the proposed scenic road.

Hafiz said she owns 300 feet of frontage along Stone Brook Trail.

The designation allows the road to be no wider than 20 feet wide, which is below the Newtown standard of 22 feet wide. Stone Bridge Trail is currently 14 feet wide. The residents are also hoping that the road will not be paved.

The scenic section would be 990 feet of the road.

According to the application, the section of road includes “a stone bridge which crosses over a stream that cascades down the mountain in a stunning scene — believed to be the road’s namesake dating back to the Revolutionary War era.” The road is “lined by stone walls and mature trees, several of which are native species.”

“Winding through dense forest landscape on one side and wetland on the other, the road offers endless views of forest habitats, rock formations, scenic overlooks of mountains on the horizon, a babbling stream, dense bog, and much more that any visitor to the site will be entranced by,” states the application.

Hafiz said the area is a wildlife corridor to animals traveling to and from the Stone Bridge Open Space Preserve, where there was a recent project to return cottontails to the area, and a state forest less than a mile away up the logging road extension. Stone Bridge Trail is a dead end road.

Hafiz said that the purpose of the scenic road designation is to “encourage mindful decision-making regarding the alteration and preservation of a public landmark” and not to block improvements to the road in perpetuity.

A letter from Town Historian Ben Cruson believes the road may have been built in the 1750s and is on the town’s first known map, made in 1854. The area’s preserved stone walls from the practice of plow stones to the edges of property to mark borders and keep in animals “affirm the early farming practices of the area inhabitants.”

“Stone Bridge Trail is a good example of what many roads in Newtown looked like 200 years ago,” stated Cruson. “It is one of the last surviving artifacts of Newtown’s rural backbone that grew our town to its current standing. A marvel that the road remains highly functional in its relatively unaltered state, and fortuitous that an active horse farm visible from the road harkens back to the farming origins.”

Council Chairman Keith Alexander recognized the historic nature of the road and felt it was important to preserve.

Town Engineer John Curtiss said that maintenance on a dirt road is roughly $24,000 per mile per year, versus $23,000 per mile per year for a paved road. Specifically Stone Bridge would cost between $5,500 to $7,000 per year for the dirt section.

Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.