Sandy Hook Center—

Condo Proposal

Hits Sewer Line Snag

By Andrew Gorosko

The Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) has determined that a Danbury developer’s current application for a municipal sewer connection for his controversial proposed 23-unit mixed-income townhouse condominium complex in Sandy Hook Center is “incomplete,” potentially jeopardizing the project’s prospects for obtaining a sewer connection.

Danbury developer Guri Dauti, doing business as Dauti Construction, LLC, is seeking to build Edona Commons at 95-99 Church Hill Road. Edona Commons would be a five-building complex on a steep, rugged 4.04-acre site, just west of Dayton Street, where seven of the 23 condos would be reserved for moderate-income families.

Edona Commons would contain 57 bedrooms and take 18 months to construct. The Edona Commons site abuts the 52-acre site of the 189-unit age-restricted Walnut Tree Village condo complex.

Engineer Steven Trinkaus and attorney Ryan McKain, both representing Dauti Construction, attended a June 8 WSA session to discuss the sewer connection request with WSA members.

Public Works Director Fred Hurley noted that the Edona Commons construction proposal does not meet current zoning regulations. Mr Dauti would need to obtain a change of zone from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for the site before the WSA would consider granting him a sewer connection for the project, Mr Hurley said.

Mr Dauti is seeking P&Z approvals for the creation of a new land use zone known as the Mixed Income Housing District (MIHD), which would allow his project to be built; the rezoning of the site from its current R-2 (Residential) zoning designation to MIHD; the issuance of a special permit for the project; a construction permit; and an excavation permit. All aspects of the application are under consideration simultaneously by the P&Z, as has been requested by Mr Dauti.

The P&Z was scheduled to conduct a third public hearing on the Edona Commons proposal on the night of June 15, after the deadline for this edition of The Newtown Bee.

At a May 18 hearing, P&Z officials had told Mr Dauti they wanted the WSA and the Police Commission to act on his condo complex proposal before June 15.

On June 6, Police Commission members, acting as the local traffic authority, recommended against the P&Z approving the Edona Commons proposal because traffic generated by condo complex residents would worsen existing difficult traffic conditions in Sandy Hook Center.

Nearby residents’ objections to Edona Commons voiced at two past P&Z hearings have included heavy traffic.

The site’s current R-2 zoning would allow the construction of single-family houses on building lots of at least two acres. Mr Dauti’s requested zone change from R-2 to MIHD for the site would make possible the construction of 23 condos, greatly increasing the site’s development density.

Mr Hurley said a that change of zone for the site from R-2 to MIHD would need to occur before serious consideration would be given to approving a sewer connection for the project.

The WSA did not act on Mr Dauti’s requested sewer connection on June 8. The panel is expected to take action on the matter at its July 13 session, Mr Hurley said.

If the zoning designation for the site remains as R-2 at the time of the WSA’s July 13 session, the agency may then reject the sewer connection request, he said.

Mr Hurley said technical questions remain about the practicality of constructing as many as 23 dwellings on the 4.04-acre site.

It is the third time that Mr Dauti has attempted to develop the property with multifamily housing. Two past proposals from Mr Dauti for high-density, multifamily complexes at that site have met with stiff opposition from nearby property owners, who have criticized such development as inappropriate for the area. Past opponents cited concerns about heavy traffic, congestion, aesthetics, and decreased property values.

In a 2003 attempt to develop the site, Mr Dauti sought to build 16 units. In a second failed attempt early in 2004, he sought to build 12 units.

The P&Z thwarted both proposals, rejecting Mr Dauti’s various requested zoning rule changes.