A long-planned “heritage park” with a welcoming pavilion, ample parking, and possibly several high-powered electric vehicle charging stations is getting rapidly closer to reality, as is the long-dormant development of at least one industrial parcel in the so-called “tech park” off Commerce Road.

On June 21, the Board of Selectmen learned the town is in line to receive a $128,205 Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant administered through the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. That grant, along with a required town-side match of $12,000 and additional funds raised by the Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity (SHOP), will help complete a new pocket park in the center of Sandy Hook Village.

That project will transform the site of a former vehicle repair garage at 7 Glen Road from an underutilized brownfield location into an improved, landscaped destination that will serve as an anchor to a “heritage walking trail” that will educate residents and visitors about the history of Sandy Hook.

Once completed, the site, including a new pavilion, will be an attraction that should significantly boost traffic and commerce to area businesses, with added parking and benches. First Selectman Dan Rosenthal separately told The Newtown Bee that the town is also in line to receive part of a nationwide settlement from a case involving the Volkswagen company.

In late 2015, Volkswagen (VW) publicly admitted it had secretly and deliberately installed a defeat device — software designed to cheat emissions tests and deceive federal and state regulators — in nearly 500,000 VW and Audi 2.0-liter diesel vehicles and 83,000 3.0-liter diesel vehicles sold to American consumers.

Through a series of three partial settlements, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) resolved its civil enforcement case against VW. As a result of these partial settlements, Connecticut was allocated more than $55 million for use toward offsetting the excess NOx emissions caused by VW’s actions through extensive mitigation projects to reduce NOx from a wide array of mobile sources.

If delivered, Rosenthal said, the funding would cover the cost for an undetermined number of “supercharger stations” that can recharge depleted electric vehicle batteries in as little as 20 minutes.

Attracting More Commerce

“If they earmark a few parking spaces as part of the project, people will be looking for those off the highway. That would bring, hopefully, a small but steady stream of new people down that way,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not final, but they are working on it.”

He estimated the all-in cost for each supercharger station is approximately $100,000.

“So to get those thrown in is a bonus,” Rosenthal said, “and while people are getting their cars charged, they’ll go over to one of the shops or restaurants.”

Once Newtown expends its matching pledge, Rosenthal told Selectmen Maureen Crick Owen and Jeff Capeci, the STEAP grant funds will pay for site work, planning, infrastructure, landscaping, and remediation. The town funds would cover the installation of added parking facilities and related infrastructure.

SHOP has already pledged $50,000 in funds and volunteer labor to help complete the pocket park and facilities, as well as other elements of the trail network, like signage and additional seating or benches at various locations along its path.

Following a motion to accept the grant and budget the matching funds from the town’s Capital and Nonrecurring Fund and other budget, the measure was unanimously approved.

Tech Park Development

The pending tech park development came to light publicly as the Town Planning Department sought the selectmen’s approval for a lot line revision for 6 and 8 Commerce Road. The property in question was given to the town by the state, and has been available for development for more than 17 years.

The unanimously approved action authorized the consolidation of three lots into two parcels, also creating an access point for the eventual developer of that commercial parcel and the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, which would also enjoy primary access to its developing facility on former abutting state-owned agricultural property.

According to Director of Planning George Benson, the approved revision would create a developable parcel at #6 Commerce Road, while the balance of the land would revert to a conservation parcel. The action gives the town’s Land Use Agency administrative discretion over the revision, bypassing Planning & Zoning (P&Z) because there will be no subdivision occurring.

However, Benson said, any development approval will be subject to all applicable town agencies, including P&Z.

Rosenthal told The Newtown Bee separately that the action will maximize environmental benefits by creating 27 acres of buffer between the eight acre developable lot and any other adjacent property leading down to the Deep Brook stretch that borders it to the northwest.

Benson told selectmen that both the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers approved the developable part of the parcel while safely protecting Deep Brook. The only other option would involve selling the entire combined parcel to a developer with a conservation easement, but the town would not own the underlying land.

“I think everybody, including Trout Unlimited, would like us to retain control of this piece of property,” Benson said. “By doing it this way, we can do everything we want to do while retaining ownership of 27 acres of conservation land.”

Rosenthal called the plan to segment out about eight acres for eventual development, “an elegant solution as we inch closer to the sale of the 6 Commerce piece.”

Associate Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.