Condo Zone Change Rejected

By Andrew Gorosko

Concluding that the traffic burden on the narrow, winding Oakview Road would be overwhelming, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have rejected a developer’s proposed zone change, which had been sought as part of a proposal to build 80 age-restricted condominiums on a 52-acre site near Newtown High School.

The rejected zone change thus thwarts Toll Brothers, Inc’s, proposal to build 80 condominiums within 20 residential buildings on an elevated section of the site at 21-23 Oakview Road in Sandy Hook. The site overlooks the floodplain of the Pootatuck River and the eastbound lanes of Interstate 84.

On April 15, P&Z members voted 4-to-1 to turn down Toll Brothers’ request to rezone the parcel from R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing). R-2 zoning is designated for single-family house construction on building lots of at least two acres. EH-10 zoning allows the construction of high-density, multifamily housing, which is restricted to people over age 55.

Voting to reject the zone change request were P&Z Chairman William O’Neil, Sten Wilson, Lilla Dean, and Robert Mulholland. Dissenting was Robert Poulin.

At a March 4 P&Z public hearing, Oakview Road residents had raised many concerns about the traffic consequences of the development proposal. Also, several people voiced concerns about such construction in an environmentally sensitive area, which is above a major aquifer and adjacent to a state-regulated wild trout fishing area.

On March 25, the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) had decided that if Toll Brothers secured the several other necessary town approvals for its proposed 80-unit condo complex, the WPCA would allow Toll Brothers to link the project to the town’s central sewer system.

Toll Brothers’ proposal would involve building a complex architecturally similar to a project that the firm is now constructing on Route 25 in Trumbull, known as Regency Meadows at Trumbull. The firm would have needed to modify Newtown’s architectural zoning regulations to build such a project. The proposed luxury-grade units would have had starting prices at $425,000.

On April 20, Gregory Kamedulski, a Toll Brothers vice president, said of the P&Z’s action, “We’re evaluating our options, right now...We’re exploring every option available to us.”

Those options include modifying the condo construction proposal; developing an “affordable housing” proposal for the property; proposing construction of a conventional residential subdivision of single-family houses; challenging the P&Z’s zone change rejection in court; or dropping plans to develop the property, he said.

P&Z Deliberations

On April 15, of Toll Brothers’ requested zone change, Mr Wilson said, “The traffic impact in that area would be such a hindrance to the town… It doesn’t make any sense.”

The narrow, winding Oakview Road, which holds about a dozen residences, links Berkshire Road to Wasserman Way. Some motorists use Oakview Road as a shortcut between those two major roads. Oakview Road is in the vicinity of Newtown High School and Exit 11 of I-84, an area that experiences heavy traffic during rush periods.

Mr Mulholland said Toll Brothers did not provide the P&Z with an adequate traffic study. A better traffic study is necessary, he said.

Mr Mulholland said the intersection of Oakview Road and Wasserman Way poses traffic safety hazards. That intersection is located near I-84’s Exit 11 interchange, which has difficult traffic conditions, he said.

Ms Dean questioned the developer’s projection that the 52-acre site off Oakview Road could potentially yield 20 or more building lots in a subdivision of single-family houses. “You’d be lucky to get 12 lots out of that,” Ms Dean said, noting the site’s developmental limitations. Much of the land on the site is “totally unusable” for development, she said. Much of the site is very steep or lies in the environmentally sensitive Pootatuck River floodplain.

Ms Dean said she took much time deciding on the zone change request, adding that it became apparent that the added traffic on Oakview Road would be an “overwhelming” problem.

In its traffic report, Toll Brothers had said the site could potentially yield 20 to 22 building lots for single-family houses. The firm had stated that the amount of traffic that would be generated by 80 condos would not be much greater than the traffic flow which would be generated by 20-to-22 potential houses.

According to the Toll Brothers’ traffic report, during the course of a day, each of the 80 condos on the site would generate between six and seven vehicle trips, translating into between 480 and 560 overall vehicle trips daily.

Ms Dean said, “That [Oakview Road] traffic situation would be unbearable…I just think that the traffic problem would be overwhelming.”

Of Oakview Road, Mr O’Neil said, “The road is an impossible situation…That is a terrible road. I just can’t imagine that much traffic on that road,” he said.

Alternate Plan

Mr O’Neil, however, underscored his general support of EH-10 development. Mr O’Neil said he could endorse a condo complex, such as the one proposed by Toll Brothers, provided that it had a direct entry-exit link to the nearby Berkshire Road, not to Oakview Road. The firm had proposed linking the 80 units to Oakview Road via two driveways.

Mr O’Neil said that the traffic problems that would occur on Oakview Road would be worse than those that would occur on Boggs Hill Road if a Buddhist temple were to be built at 145 Boggs Hill Road.

In its February 2003 rejection of the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut’s proposal to build a 7,600-square-foot Buddhist temple/meeting hall at 145 Boggs Hill Road, P&Z members cited increased traffic on the narrow, winding Boggs Hill Road as a prime reason for turning down that project. The Buddhists are challenging that rejection in court.

Mr Mulholland suggested that the narrow Oakview Road be designated as a one-way street to ease travel problems on it. Mr Wilson responded that a one-way street would create more problems than it would solve.

Mr Poulin expressed support for EH-10 development, but questioned the wisdom of building 80 condos on the Oakview Road site. Constructing 30 or 40 condos would be an acceptable number of dwellings, he said.

Mr Poulin said the applicant through a modified development proposal could resolve the traffic problems posed by the proposed condo complex.

Similarly, Ms Dean and Mr O’Neil suggested that Toll Brothers could return to the P&Z with a modified application.

P&Z members then voted on the application, rejecting Toll Brothers’ zone change request in a 4-to-1 vote.

To build an age-restricted condo complex, Toll Brothers would need, in addition to a zone change, a municipal sewer connection; zoning rule amendments to allow its architectural design to be built; a special exception to the zoning regulations from the P&Z; a site development plan approval from the P&Z; a wetlands construction permit from the Conservation Commission, serving as the town’s inland wetlands agency; and an aquifer protection approval from the P&Z, based on an aquifer protection review conducted by the Conservation Commission.