60 Age-Restricted Units—

Environmental Questions Posed On Condo Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Conservation Commission members are seeking answers to a series of questions about the environmental effects of a developer’s proposal to construct 60 condominium units in an environmentally sensitive area off Oakview Road, near Newtown High School.

Conservation Commission Vice Chairman Dr Philip Kotch told representatives of Toll Brothers, Inc, on May 25 that the public and commission members have posed “serious questions” about the development proposal, which will require detailed answers.

Dr Kotch served as commission chairman at a public hearing on the firm’s proposal for Regency at Newtown, a 60-unit complex intended for people over age 55. The hearing is slated to resume on June 8.

The Conservation Commission, serving as the town’s wetlands agency, reviews the environmental aspects of construction proposals as they affect wetlands, watercourses, and forested areas.

“There are serious questions by the Conservation Commission and the public,” Dr Kotch said. Those issues involve the steep slopes on the site, the number of condos that would be constructed, and the proximity of the project to the Pootatuck River, which is a pristine trout stream.

Twelve buildings, each of which would contain five condos, would be constructed atop a plateau, which has steep slopes running downward toward the Pootatuck River to the west. Development would occur on approximately one-quarter of the 51-acre site.

Conservation Commission member Donald Collier asked how the developer would remove trees from the property without causing soil erosion problems that would damage the river. Mr Collier recommended that the developer provide the commission with alternate plans that would have less environmental impact on the area. “The [Pootatuck River] trout fishing is of great interest to all of us,” he said.

Mr Collier said the developer “is trying to squeeze a lot of units onto what is a mesa.”

Commission member Jane Nickerson suggested that the developer reduce the number of condos by two or three units in order to avoid disturbing the top of a slope on the edge of the plateau. Decreasing the development by several units would not have much effect on the project’s economics, she said.

Toll Brothers has proposed that one of the five-unit buildings be constructed with a very deep basement wall that would also function as a retaining wall to stabilize that structure’s position atop a steep slope.

Mr Collier asked why a building should be constructed atop a steep slope.

Dr Kotch expressed environmental concerns over the presence of steep slopes in the “buffer area” that would shield the river from the condo units. He also questioned the wisdom of a construction design requiring that the top of a steep slope be excavated to partially position a building within that slope.

Joe Hovious of 3 Leopard Drive, representing Trout Unlimited, said that the environmental protection organization recommends that the condos be built at least 250 feet away from the Pootatuck River, not the 100-foot distance that has been proposed by Toll Brothers.

The Pootatuck River in that area is a Class 1 Wild Trout Management Area, one of only eight such fisheries in the state, he stressed.

The development site will need continual maintenance of its stormwater-flow facilities to ensure that the river’s water quality is protected, he said.

Earlier in the session, attorney Robert Hall, representing Toll Brothers, had said that Trout Unlimited proposal for a 250-foot-wide buffer area between the condos and the river “is not feasible.”

Mr Hall said that the site is now well screened by evergreen trees, adding that the developer will preserve as many trees as possible to visually screen the condos from view.

“We don’t want to create another Walnut Tree Village, where it will be visible from all over town, if we can help it,” Mr Hall said. Mr Hall acknowledged that Regency at Newtown would be visible from certain areas.

Mr Hall stressed that the developer will work to protect water quality in the Pootatuck River, adding that the construction project will have no adverse effects on nearby wetlands.