P&Z Urged To Reverse Decision On Sports Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Some Whippoorwill Hill Road and Tory Lane residents, who are upset about the prospect of a major private recreational sports complex being built on Mt Pleasant Road near their neighborhoods, are pressing Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) members to reconsider some recent P&Z zoning rule changes that would allow such sports complexes as a permitted land use in M-2A (Industrial) zones.

At a June 7 P&Z session, Patrick Napolitano of 13 Whippoorwill Hill Road urged that P&Z members consider a petition submitted by the nearby residents that seeks to have the P&Z reverse its unanimous April 5 decision to allow sports complexes in M-2A zones. Those zoning rule changes had been requested from the P&Z by architect/engineer Peder Scott, who is representing the development group proposing the Newtown Sports Center.

The petition is signed by 32 residents of  Whippoorwill Hill Road and Tory Lane. Whippoorwill Hill Road is a dead-end street that extends from the north side of Mt Pleasant Road. It lies to the east of the sports complex site. Tory Lane is a loop road extending from the south side of Mt Pleasant Road. It lies across Mt Pleasant Road from the sports complex site.

The development group proposes Newtown Sports Center for a sloping 33.4-acre site at 90 Mt Pleasant Road, which the group has an option to purchase. If the full project were built, the multiple-building complex would enclose more than 320,000 square feet of space and include outdoor playing fields. Some of the enclosed space would contain offices. A main sports building would contain about 170,000 square feet of space for multiple sports uses.

The Economic Development Commission (EDC) has endorsed the project as a stimulus to the local economy.

The petition signers write that the stated purpose of M-2A zoning is to provide significant economic development activity without adverse effects to the character of nearby neighborhoods.

“We feel that the character of our neighborhood will be significantly impacted by the use of this parcel for a sports complex with multistory buildings, sports fields, field lights, and a significant increase in traffic,” according to the petitioners.

The presence of a sports complex would drastically damage nearby residents’ quality of life, Mr Napolitano said.

He told P&Z members that the published legal notice, which advertised the P&Z’s March 1 public hearing on the developer’s request to allow sports complexes as a permitted use in a M-2A zone, was “obscure” due to a lack of detail explaining the particulars of the proposal.

Nearby residents will pursue with town officials issues concerning the legality of that legal notice, Mr Napolitano said.

Mary Gaudet-Wilson of 12 Whippoorwill Hill Road said her review of past legal notices for P&Z public hearings indicates that previous notices were more specific than the legal notice concerning the public hearing on zoning rule changes requested for the sports complex.

The legal notice on the sports center refers to allowing a “commercial complex” in the M-2A zone as a permitted use, she said. “That’s all we had to go on,” she said.

Nearby residents simply did not realize that a sports complex was being proposed for the site, she said.

Ms Gaudet-Wilson urged that P&Z members reconsider their decision to allow sports complexes in M-2A zones.

The P&Z’s zoning rule changes that allow such sports complexes, in effect, give such development the panel’s tacit approval, she said. “To me, it gives some indication of approval…We don’t think the location is proper,” she said.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said it is unclear if the P&Z is legally allowed to act on petitions such as the one submitted by the residents. Legal research on the topic will be necessary, she said.

Ms Dean suggested that the residents could apply to the P&Z seeking zoning rule changes to eliminate sports centers as a permitted use in M-2A zones.

Mr Napolitano asked that the P&Z determine whether it can legally act on the petition that has already been submitted.

When the sports complex developers received the P&Z’s April zoning rule changes concerning sports centers in M-2A zones, it was the first of many town approvals that the project would require.        

The developer will be seeking approvals for wetlands aspects of the project from the Inland Wetlands Commission, approvals for site development plans from the P&Z, and potentially approvals for sanitary sewer service from the Water and Sewer Authority (WSA).

The EDC has recommended that the WSA consider extending the sewer system to the sports center site. Such a sewer extension would raise the value of other industrially zoned land near that sewer line extension, according to the EDC.