A development firm is proposing the construction of 29 condominiums at a multifamily complex that would be built on Mt Pleasant Road in the borough.Environmental ReviewSite History

Hunter Ridge, LLC, proposes the construction of Rochambeau Woods at a site that it owns at 41, 43, 45, and 47 Mt Pleasant Road (US Route 6/State Route 25).

The 29.2-acre environmentally sensitive site extends downward from Mt Pleasant Road to Taunton Lake. Acreage nearest to Mt Pleasant Road would be physically altered, creating a construction area for 29 individual buildings, each of which would hold one condo unit. The 29 clustered structures would be arrayed alongside a pentagonal ring road.

Inland Wetland Commission (IWC) members are expected to formally receive the development application at their March 23 meeting. At that session, they would set a date for a public hearing on the matter.

Although the site lies in a R-1 (Residential) zone, the applicant is seeking approval for the project under the terms of the Borough Zoning Commission's (BZC) "residential open space development" zoning regulations.

Although the mapping for the project does not depict an open space area, applicable borough zoning regulations require than at least 50 percent of such a site be set aside as preserved open space land through a conservation easement. In effect, at least 14.6 acres would need to be designated as preserved land.

The BZC created those regulations years ago as a mechanism to foster open space preservation at large residential developments through the clustering of housing units, which leaves much land undisturbed. Until now, no developer has sought land use approvals for a project under the terms of those zoning rules. Such development is known as "cluster housing."

As of March 16, the developer had not submitted an application for the project to the BZC.

The developer also would need Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) approval to discharge wastewater from the condominiums into the central municipal sanitary sewer system.

Because the project does not involve a "subdivision" of property, it would not be reviewed as a subdivision application by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z). But because the P&Z serves as the borough's planning agency, the P&Z would formally comment on the project.

The application documents state that earthen cutting and filling at the property would be "balanced," with 20,000 cubic yards of earthen material moved about at the site.

The construction work required to build 29 condos would be completed within five years of the project's final approval, according to the application.

George Logan, senior ecologist for REMA Ecological Services, LLC, of Manchester, reviewed the environmental aspects of the project for the developer.

Mr Logan noted that previously a 14-lot residential subdivision of single-family houses had been proposed for the site, but was never built. Under the terms of the P&Z's regulations for conventional subdivisions, those 14 lots would have been situated across the whole site, with some lots having frontage on Taunton Lake, Mr Logan wrote.

Under the terms of the borough zoning rules governing the Rochambeau Woods project, land nearer to the lake would function as open space and would remain undisturbed, with the exception of a walking trail.

The residential construction would take place on land formerly used for agriculture, Mr Logan wrote. Lawns would be small and the use of fertilizers and pesticides would be strictly controlled, he added.

Because there would be no individual septic waste disposal systems present, it would benefit Taunton Lake water quality, he wrote.

Because of limited impervious surfaces in such development, stormwater runoff would be well controlled, he added.

Due to the clustering of condo units on land near Mt Pleasant Road, "a contiguous and largely undisturbed block of woods is preserved adjacent to Taunton [Lake], preserving its ecological integrity," Mr Logan wrote.

The Rochambeau Woods site has about 450 feet of frontage on Taunton Lake, a more than 100-acre, spring-fed lake that is ringed by privately owned properties. The lake has limited public access.

Engineer Larry Edwards of J. Edwards and Associates LLC, of Easton prepared stormwater control calculations for the project.

In a report for the developer, Mr Edwards wrote that drainage from the property flows to Taunton Lake. Stormwater quality would be regulated by the presence of three water-quality basins at the site, he wrote.

The entry/exit for the site would be a driveway extending from Mt Pleasant Road. That driveway would be located on the south side of Mt Pleasant Road, west of its intersection with Diamond Drive.

The condos on the site would have a 20-foot side separation distance between them.

George Benson, town director of planning, said March 16 that a project such as Rochambeau Woods amounts to "a good developmental alternative" to a conventional residential subdivision.

The BZC's residential open space development zoning regulations were formulated for properties such as the site proposed for Rochambeau Woods, he said.

"If the property is going to be [residentially] developed, this is the best way to develop it, compared to a conventional subdivision," he said.

In December, at the request of Hunter Ridge, LLC, which had been involved in a decade-long court fight over the proposed residential development of the 29-acre site, the P&Z reaffirmed its December 2009 endorsement of constructing a 14-lot residential resubdivision of single-family houses at the Mt Pleasant Road site. The name of that project was Hunter Ridge.

Developer David French, doing business as Hunter Ridge, had gained a town wetlands/watercourses protection permit for the resubdivision project in 2002.

The development proposal initially was submitted for P&Z review in 2005, but was rejected by the P&Z because the project did not include open space land that would provide public access to Taunton Lake. Hunter Ridge, LLC, then appealed that rejection in Danbury Superior Court.

In 2006, the P&Z and the developer came to a settlement of the lawsuit, under which the project would be approved, provided that the developer provided a $350,000 fee in lieu of open space to the town. Such funds would be used by the town for other municipal open space purposes.

However, property owner Spencer Taylor, who owns a home across Taunton Lake at 15 Taunton Lake Road, then intervened in the lawsuit, claiming that the proposed development would environmentally damage Taunton Lake. That court intervention prevented the lawsuit settlement between Hunter Ridge and the P&Z from taking effect.

In 2009, the developer formulated improved plans for the project, which were keyed to environmental protection of the lake. The P&Z then endorsed those plans.

Hunter Ridge later lost the ongoing court case, after which Hunter Ridge appealed that decision to the Connecticut Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Hunter Ridge in September 2015.

Last December the P&Z reaffirmed its past endorsement of building a 14-lot subdivision at the site so that the developer could obtain a court order to resolve the long-running legal conflict.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Hunter Ridge, then told P&Z members that a new residential development proposal would be submitted for land use review.

Early in 2001, Ginsburg Development Corporation of Westchester County, N.Y., had proposed using the 29-acre Mt Pleasant Road site, plus some adjacent land, as the location for an age-restricted condominium complex, which would include 110 attached townhouses. But in the face of strong local opposition and questions about the availability of sanitary sewers for such a complex, Ginsburg later dropped its plans for the property

Ginsburg later constructed the 96-unit Liberty at Newtown age-restricted condo complex on Mt Pleasant Road in Hawleyville, near the Bethel town line. Liberty at Newtown was completed in the summer of 2007.