Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) members are scheduled next week to review and possibly act on a request from a land developer for municipal sanitary sewer service for a controversial major mixed-use complex proposed for 79 Church Hill Road, near the Exit 10 interchange ramps for westbound Interstate 84.

The seven-member panel is scheduled to consider development firm 79 Church Hill Road, LLC's sewering request for the proposed Hunters Ridge project when the WSA meets at 7 pm on Thursday, April 12, at the Public Works Department offices at 4 Turkey Hill Road.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley said April 3 that WSA members will have available to them all the necessary technical information on the project upon which to base a possible decision.

"It is a defining moment," Mr Hurley said of the WSA's decision on the application, when considering that the developer, in effect, is seeking WSA approval to provide all of the town's remaining unallocated sewage treatment capacity in the central sewer system for the Hunters Ridge project. The central sewer system, which is intended to resolve groundwater pollution problems caused by failing septic systems, started operation in 1997.

The Board of Selectmen has recommended to the WSA that the town not provide sewer service for Hunters Ridge.

The applicant initially had sought town sewer service for wastewater discharged by 224 proposed rental apartments and approximately 55,000 square feet of proposed commercial space at the 35-acre site.

However, after learning that the town has much less unallocated sewage capacity remaining in the central sewer system than had been requested, the applicant scaled down the development project, then proposing 196 rental apartments and a smaller, as-yet unspecified amount of commercial space.

The currently proposed 196-unit housing complex would include about 40 rental apartments designated as affordable housing for people who meet income guidelines. Affordable units would be rented out at significantly lower prices than the market-rate units. Such affordable units must remain "affordable," as defined by state law, for at least 30 years. The town, like many other municipalities, is under a state mandate to increase its stock of affordable housing. The developer has said the commercial space at the complex would contain stores, professional offices, and a restaurant.

Notably, the WSA session which is now scheduled for April 12 was canceled twice in March due to snowstorms. Consequently, three other town agencies that review various other aspects of the development proposal also canceled their sequential planned meetings on Hunters Ridge.

If the WSA approves sewer service for Hunters Ridge on April 12, it is expected that the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) would then hold its second public hearing on the proposal on April 19, the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) would hold its second public hearing on the matter on April 25, and the Aquifer Protection Agency (APA) would also conduct its review of the proposal on April 25.

If the WSA rejects the Hunters Ridge sewering request on April 12, it is unclear if the proposal would be the subject of the three other meetings because having sanitary sewer service is a fundamental element of such high-density development projects.

Thirdly, if the WSA does not decide on the sewering request on April 12, it also is unclear if the proposal would be the subject of an April 19 P&Z session, and IWC and APA meetings on April 25.

In its application for sewer service, the developer asks the WSA for four approvals: approximately 33,000 gallons of daily sewage treatment capacity; an expansion of the central sewer service district to include all 35 acres of the development site; an extension of sewer service to that expanded sewer service district; and some technical changes to the sewer regulations concerning the calculation of gallonage.

Currently, only about ten percent of the 35-acre site at 79 Church Hill Road, which is the land nearest to Church Hill Road, is within the central sewer district. The requested approvals would allow the developer to extend sewers to the rear section of the property where the proposed apartment buildings would be constructed.

In February, about 150 people attended the P&Z's first public hearing on the Hunters Ridge proposal, where the project drew heavy public opposition.

A petition circulated by opponents of the project lists many reasons why its signers oppose the Hunters Ridge proposal. Among those points, the opponents contend that such development would pose contamination hazards to the nearby Pootatuck Aquifer; would adversely affect existing domestic water wells; and would create traffic hazards for pedestrians and motorists in a heavily traveled area. The petition signers call for the town regulatory commissions which are reviewing the application to have independent technical studies performed on the proposal, rather than solely relying on information provided by the developer.

By contrast, attorney Christopher Smith, representing the applicant, has said that the developer's requested change of zone for the site from BPO (Busness/Professional Office) to IH-10 (Incentive Housing-10) is consistent with the 2014 Town Plan of Conservation and Development and with the Newtown Comprehensive Plan. The dwellings proposed for Hunters Ridge likely would be rented by younger and by older adults, according to Mr Smith. The Town Plan calls for increasing diversity in the local housing stock, he adds. Such diversity is represented by accessory apartments at single-family homes, cluster housing, and multifamily housing, according to Mr Smith.

The hilly, wooded site proposed for Hunters Ridge is bounded on the south by Church Hill Road, on the east by Walnut Tree Hill Road, on the north by seven residential properties along Evergreen Road, and on the west by the Exit 10 interchange ramps for westbound Interstate 84. Four two-way driveways would provide access to the site via Walnut Tree Hill Road.