EDC Decides Condos Constitute Economic Development

By Andrew Gorosko

The Economic Development Commission (EDC) has endorsed a development firm’s proposal to construct an 84-unit condominium complex for people over 55 on a 40-acre site in Hawleyville as a form of local economic development.

EDC members Tuesday night voted 3-to-2 to recommend the project’s construction to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and to the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA). One of the six EDC members who were present abstained in the voting.

Voting in favor of writing a letter of endorsement for Ginsburg Development Corporation’s condo proposal were EDC Chairman A. Winthrop Ballard and EDC members Joseph Hemingway and Denise David. Voting in opposition to writing such a letter were EDC members Stephen Small and Eugene Kiely, Jr. EDC Member Geoffrey Dent abstained from the voting, stating that he has business dealings with Ginsburg.

 Mr Ballard said that all EDC members will review a draft version of the letter of endorsement for the condo project before that letter is mailed to the P&Z and the WPCA. The EDC has no regulatory control over the condo proposal. Its letter simply expresses the viewpoint of the majority of the EDC members who voted on the construction proposal. The full EDC has nine members, three of whom were not present Tuesday.

Currently, Ginsburg is seeking two changes of zone, plus various zoning regulation changes, which if approved by the P&Z would allow the firm to submit a condo construction application for P&Z review.

Also, Ginsburg is expected to seek WPCA approval to connect the proposed complex to the municipal sewer system in Hawleyville, which discharges wastewater at the Danbury sewage treatment plant.

Ginsburg is seeking to show the WPCA that its construction proposal constitutes “economic development,” and thus should be allowed to connect to the sewers. The town constructed the Hawleyville sewer system in 2000 to foster economic development. The Homesteads at Newtown, an elderly housing complex in Hawleyville, which the WPCA has categorized as economic development, spurred construction of the sewer system.

 

Presentation

Thomas Gissen, who is Ginsburg’s executive vice president, presented the firm’s condo proposal to EDC members.

The development site at 178 Mt Pleasant Road abuts Bethel. The property is on the north side of Mt Pleasant Road, across the street from Cassio Kennels. A small portion of the site along Mt Pleasant Road, representing less than 10 percent of the site, is within the town’s sewer district. That section of the land has P-1 Professional zoning, designated for professional office space. The remaining 90 percent of the property, which is situated back away from Mt Pleasant Road, has R-2 Residential zoning, designated for the construction of single-family housing on lots of at least two acres. Ginsburg is seeking P&Z approval to convert the P-1 and R-2 zoning to EH-10 zoning. EH-10 zoning is designated for high-density, multifamily housing for people over 55.

Also, Ginsburg is seeking P&Z approval to modify the EH-10 zoning regulations. Ginsburg wants to build two-unit and four-unit buildings which would have second stories and walkout basements. Current regulations require EH-10 housing to be on a single level. Also, Ginsburg wants the P&Z to reduce building separation distances in such complexes, to allow buildings to be as close as 20 feet apart. Current regulations require minimum separation distances of 40 feet.

Mr Gissen said an 84-unit condo complex would require about 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of daily wastewater capacity, an amount that Newtown could purchase from Danbury. Ginsburg would then reimburse Newtown for that purchased capacity, he said. Newtown currently has a contract with Danbury for the disposal of 150,000 gallons of wastewater daily. However, only a small fraction of that amount is now used by The Homesteads, Mr Gissen said. The Hawleyville sewer system is sized to handle up to 400,000 gallons of daily wastewater flow.

Of Ginsburg’s condo construction proposal, Mr Gissen said, “We believe this is economic development.” Conventional single-family housing does not constitute economic development and in most cases creates an economic drain on a community, he said.

Economic development typically is considered to be development that produces property tax revenue, but which does not require many municipal services, such as offices, stores, factories, and warehouses.

The proposed condo complex would have private roads and private maintenance, Mr Gissen said. The complex would not contain school children requiring public education, he added.

Frank Fish, a planning consultant for Ginsburg, said the “baby boom” began in 1946. People who were born in 1946 are turning 55 this year he said. The baby boom, which continued until 1964, peaked in 1957, Mr Fish said. The number of people who are over 55 will continue growing, he added. Market demand for the housing proposed by Ginsburg will grow during the coming decade, Mr Fish said.

“We feel that this [development] could be looked at as economic development,” he said. It would produce $450,000 in annual net revenue to the town through property taxes, Mr Fish said.

Ginsburg wants to build 42 two-bedroom and 42 three-bedroom units on the site, Mr Gissen said.

Careful construction would keep in mind the town’s rural character, he said. Property tax revenue generated by the complex would help hold down the local property tax rate, he added.

Mr Gissen said Ginsburg needs to get the site rezoned from P-1 and R-2 zoning to EH-10 zoning to continue with its plans.

Also, the firm must have approval for second stories and walkout basements to proceed with the project, he said.

If the firm receives the two EH-10 changes of zone, and also receives the zoning regulation changes allowing second stories and walkout basements, but does not receive P&Z approval to position buildings as close as 20 feet apart, it is unclear if the company would continue pursuing the project, Mr Gissen said. In such a case, Ginsburg would have to reconsider the project and review a possible reconfiguration of its plans, he said.

EDC Comments

Elizabeth Stocker, the town’s community development director, told EDC members that the EDC viewpoint on Ginsburg’s construction proposal would be an important component of town review of the project.

 Mr Small mused “Now, the big one – is this [project] economic development?”

“Have other towns considered [such projects] economic development, or is [Ginsburg] reaching” in calling its project economic development, he asked.

Ms Stocker said she considers the Ginsburg proposal to have merit.

“This site is a very difficult property. It’s very steep,” she said, adding there would need to be a major recontouring of the landscape to create condo units.

Some towns would consider the Ginsburg proposal to be economic development, Ms Stocker said. Newtown’s potential capacity for economic development is not large, she added.

EDC members must weigh various factors is considering whether the Ginsburg proposal constitutes economic development, she said.

“Is it economic development? It could be. In some communities, it clearly is. It depends on what you want to see for economic development. It’s all within the context of the community,” Ms Stocker said.

Mr Ballard said the Ginsburg proposal constitutes economic development in that it would not contain children requiring public education.

Mr Kiely said allowing multifamily buildings to be as close as 20 feet apart would open a “Pandora’s box” in places with EH-10 zoning. Currently, The Homesteads at Newtown on Mt Pleasant Road, Walnut Tree Village on Walnut Tree Hill Road, Nunnawauk Meadows on Nunnawauk Road, and Ashlar of Newtown on Toddy Hill Road have EH-10 zoning.          

Mr Hemingway suggested that the EDC recommend the Ginsburg project to the P&Z and the WPCA, but not approve Ginsburg’s proposed 20-foot minimum separation distance between buildings.

Mr Small said it is unclear whether the EDC needs to make any recommendation on the construction proposal, adding that what Ginsburg wants to build in Hawleyville would not make much of a financial difference in terms of town property tax revenues.

Mr Ballard then polled the EDC membership on whether the panel should endorse the project in a letter to the P&Z and WPCA. At that point, three members endorsed it and two members did not. Mr Dent abstained, saying he has business dealings with Ginsburg and thus should not vote on the matter.

Mr Dent later said that considering the difficult terrain which Ginsburg proposes developing, “Acre for acre, this is probably some of the best economic development we could get [for this property].”

The P&Z and WPCA are expected to consider the Ginsburg condo proposal at future sessions.

The Hawleyville project is the second development proposal that Ginsburg has submitted for town review.

In May, citing neighborhood opposition, plus questions about the availability of municipal sewer service from the central sewer system, GDC dropped its proposal to build 110 condominium units for people over 55 on Mt Pleasant Road, near Taunton Lake. That site, which is owned by the Grossman family, lies west of the Taunton Lake Drive neighborhood.