Local builder/developer Michael Burton, Sr, is seeking Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) approval for municipal sanitary sewer service for 74 dwellings at the fourth version of The Riverwalk at Sandy Hook Village, a multifamily housing complex proposed for 10-22 Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center, near the Pootatuck River.

Mr Burton, doing business as Riverwalk Properties, LLC, on April 12 sought WSA sewer-connection approval for the 74 units, which is nine more dwellings than the WSA approved for the third version of the project, which was never built.

On April 5, Riverwalk gained a modified special permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z). The project received a modified wetlands/watercourses protection permit from the Inland Wetlands Commission in February. Both approvals cover the fourth version of the project.

Mr Burton told WSA members that the nine additional dwellings for which he is seeking WSA sewering approval represent about 1,369 gallons of added daily sewage treatment capacity at the municipal sewage treatment plant.

WSA member Richard Zang pointed out that the sewer system pump station at 5-A Glen Road in Sandy Hook Center does not have the pumping capacity available to add additional sewage flow into the sewer system. The town expects it will increase the pumping capacity at the pump station, he added.

Mr Burton said he hopes to start constructing the Riverwalk complex this summer, with initial occupancy occurring by the winter.

When considering that the Riverwalk project has changed since its last sewer approval, the WSA needs to start its sewer application process over, Mr Zang said.

A new sewer application should list the current specifications of the project, said Fred Hurley, town public works director. That application will need to include updated information on "sewer benefit assessments," or the amount of money the town will collect from property owners to recover the capital costs involved in providing sewer service to the complex, he said.

Such sewer benefit assessments differ for condominiums and rental apartments. The P&Z application paperwork for Riverwalk lists the dwellings as condominiums. Mr Burton, however, has said that as the three-phase project is constructed, it could be in the form of both condos and rental apartments. The third version of Riverwalk involved 65 rental apartments.

WSA members asked that Mr Burton provide pertinent sewer benefit assessment information for the current version of the project. WSA members agreed to conduct a public hearing on May 10 on the sewering request for the multifamily complex.

Because the Riverwalk project was submitted under the terms of the Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) zoning regulations, 20 percent of the units, or 15 dwellings, would be designated as affordable housing and offered to people meeting certain income limits at significantly lower prices than the other 59 market-rate units.

According to mapping submitted by the applicant, the first construction phase of Riverwalk would hold 12 townhouses that would contain a total of 32 bedrooms. The second phase would hold 11 townhouses containing 28 bedrooms. The third phase would have 51 dwellings, including five townhouses and 46 flats. The third phase would have a total of 90 bedrooms. On completion, the project would hold 150 bedrooms in 74 dwellings.

Mr Burton said April 12 that the first and second phases of the project would be condos and the third phase would be rental apartments.