Oak Ridge III—

P&Z Ponders Split Rock Road’s Future

 By Andrew Gorosko

After conducting several public hearings during which two groups of residents living near the controversial proposed Oak Ridge III residential subdivision have alternately argued that the nearby dead-end Split Rock Road should remain a dead-end street, or instead should be extended into the proposed subdivision, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are now considering the Split Rock Road issue before acting on the development application.

Unlike most subdivision applications that largely focus on the specifics of developing a given site, the Oak Ridge III proposal’s most prominent aspect has been whether or not the existing nearby dead-end Split Rock Road should be extended into the development site to make another link in the town’s road network.

Split Rock Road residents have urged that Split Rock Road, which extends westward from Eden Hill Road, remain a dead-end street. Split Rock Road residents have argued that keeping that street as a dead-end road would forestall increased traffic flow there, would protect their safety, and would preserve their properties’ values.

However, Eden Hill Road area residents have 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 which would come with the added traffic from a new development.

Town fire and police officials also have urged that Split Rock Road be extended to become a through-road, citing the emergency access advantages of another interconnection in the town’s road network.

Applicants Nick and Gino Vona, and also WF Brothers, LLC, propose Oak Ridge III as the third component of the Oak Ridge subdivision. The applicants propose 17 lots for the 79.3-acre parcel of former farmland at 46 Eden Hill Road, near the Easton town line.      

Not extending Split Rock Road would allow the developers to construct about 880 feet less roadway than initially proposed, while retaining the same number of building lots in Oak Ridge III.In the first version of the subdivision, the developers proposed extending Split Rock Road into the subdivision.

But in response to several Split Rock Road residents’ objections to having their dead-end street become a through-road linked to another subdivision, the P&Z then asked the developers to redesign the project to have Split Rock Road remain a dead-end street. The developers have thus revised their proposal.

The applicants say, however, that they are willing to extend or not extend Split Rock Road, based on which development design the P&Z prefers.

In a legal opinion on the road extension issue sought by the P&Z from Town Attorney David Grogins, Mr Grogins states that whether to extend the road is at the P&Z members’ discretion.

“Whether or not the road [extension] actually be built is in the discretion of the Planning and Zoning Commission,” Mr Grogins wrote, in part, in a March 3 letter to the agency.

Mr Grogins pointed out, however, that the applicants should be required to perform the engineering and surveying that would be necessary to build a road extension, but added that the P&Z should decide whether the road extension should be constructed.

Attorney Robert Hall, speaking as a private citizen, however, took exception with Mr Grogins’ legal opinion at a March 5 P&Z session. Mr Hall has maintained that the zoning regulations require the developers to make Split Rock Road a through-road. In the past, Mr Hall represented the developers of the Split Rock Road subdivision when it was first proposed.

P&Z members are expected to act on the Oak Ridge III application at an upcoming session.

At the March 5 P&Z meeting, P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean told members that the application file on Oak Ridge III contains much information.

 Ms Dean asked that P&Z members consider the many aspects of the application, including the opinions of the neighbors of the development, the legal views of lawyers, the standpoint of town officials, and also the degree of physical disturbance to the site that would be required to extend Split Rock Road.

Ms Dean pointed out that even if Split Rock Road were extended to become a through-road, there still would be some dead-end streets in the proposed Oak Ridge III subdivision.

Also, she noted that it has been the town’s policy to extend dead-end roads to make them through-roads, when feasible.