P&Z Reviews Plan For 92 Units In Hawleyville

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering a development firm’s proposal to build 92 multifamily housing units for people over age 55 on a 40-acre site at 178 Mt Pleasant Road in Hawleyville.

Ginsburg Development Corporation, Connecticut, LLC, at a July 11-12 session, described to P&Z members its proposal for Liberty at Newtown, on the north side of Mt Pleasant Road, adjacent to the Bethel town line. The firm is seeking a special exception to the zoning regulations to build the project.

 P&Z members took no action on the construction proposal. The P&Z continued a public hearing on the project until August 1 to allow the developer to revise mapping for the project to reflect some engineering issues raised by the town.

Ginsburg describes the proposal as a “common interest ownership community,” which is similar in nature to a condominium complex.

No one from the general public had comments at the hearing on the proposal, which began after midnight at the commission’s 71/2-hour meeting on July 11-12. The firm’s development ideas for the site have been discussed publicly for well over than a year, during which time the developer has presented its proposal to various town agencies in seeking support for the complex.

Ginsburg is under contract to purchase the site if its gains the required development approvals for the project.

Thomas Gissen, Ginsburg’s vice president for Connecticut development, explained aspects of Liberty at Newtown to P&Z members. “We think this is a very nice plan,” Mr Gissen said.

In January 2001, Ginsburg had proposed building 124 attached townhouses on the site. That project would have consisted of many scattered buildings, each of which would have contained either four or two residences. Ginsburg had sought revisions to the town’s zoning regulations, which would have allowed such scattered multifamily development on the property, but P&Z members opted against making the specific rule changes that were requested by the firm.

The P&Z, however, made some changes to its zoning rules on multifamily housing for people over 55, so Ginsburg’s designers reconfigured their proposal to meet those regulations.

In September 2001, Ginsburg sought and received two changes of zone from P&Z for the 40-acre Hawleyville site, converting the property’s former “residential” and “professional” zoning designations to an “elderly housing” designation, where high-density, multifamily complexes for people over age 55 are allowed. At that time, P&Z members said they considered the site a suitable location for housing for the elderly.

The firm now proposes building 92 units in 12 residential buildings. There would be three clusters of four buildings built near a 1,700-foot-long curving private road entering the site from Mt Pleasant Road. Ten of those residential buildings would have eight units each. Two of the buildings would have six units each. The firm has said it intends to sell the units in the price range of $300,000 to $400,000.

The residential buildings would be set into slopes, having two stories exposed on their facades and three stories exposed at the rear. Each building would have an elevator. “No one ever needs to climb a flight of stairs, but they can if they want,” Mr Gissen said.

Each housing unit would have two enclosed parking spaces. The developer designed the buildings to minimize the appearance of garage doors, Mr Gissen said. 

Floor plan drawings submitted by Ginsburg depict a variety of units, ranging in floor area from 1,895 square feet to 2,275 square feet.

Mr Gissen said residents would have the use of a clubhouse and function room, plus an outdoor swimming pool. A one-mile-long trail network on the property would be developed for residents of the complex. Because the development application does not involve a subdivision of land, there is no requirement that the applicant provide open space for the general public.

Mr Gissen said the firm took the guidance of town officials in designing the complex, resulting in a plan that leaves more area on the property undeveloped than initially proposed.

Approximately 60 percent of the site would remain undisturbed by construction, he said. Heavy visual buffering along the periphery would mask the complex’s presence, he said.

Under a design encouraged by the Conservation Commission, the number of stormwater detention basins proposed for the topographically complex site was cut from five to three. Consequently, some of the stormwater flow off the property would be diverted to a nearby wetland to regulate brook volumes downstream of the property. The site has four acres of wetlands.

The project would be built in three phases. Several hundred trees and about 1,200 shrubs would be planted on the site. A concrete sidewalk network would be constructed.

A landscaping plan submitted for the project lists tree and shrub species that would be planted. Trees include red maple, sugar maple, green ash, pin oak, linden, birch, pear, dogwood, magnolia, fir, pine, and spruce. Shrubs would include azalea, hydrangea, holly, juniper, mountain laurel, rhododendron, yew, and blueberry.

Antique-style lightposts would illuminate the complex. The project would have a 50-foot minimum separation distance between buildings and would have a maximum 150-foot building length. The site would contain more than 200 parking spaces.

Mr Gissen said such complexes typically house 1.7 persons per unit, on average. That would result in a population of more than 156 people at the project. Because such units are age-restricted, school-age children would not be allowed to live there. The average age of people moving into such complexes is 62, Mr Gissen said.

Municipal sewers and United Water’s public water supply system would serve the site. Utilities including electric lines, natural gas, telephone, and cable television service would be buried on the site.

Ginsburg states that the presence of a 92-unit complex would not damage nearby property values, noting that large undeveloped areas would buffer adjacent properties.

Last February, Ginsburg gained tentative approval from the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) for an expansion of the Hawleyville sewer district to allow the developer to use municipal sewers for the complex.

In 1999, Avalon Bay Communities had proposed building 304 rental apartments on the site, including 76 units designated as affordable housing. Avalon Bay dropped its plans for the project after encountering difficulty in getting town approval for sewer service. At that time, the Hawleyville sewer system was still in the planning stages.

In June 2001, Ginsburg sought and received an endorsement for its Hawleyville project from the Economic Development Commission. The town built the Hawleyville sewer system to foster economic development. Ginsburg has explained that because the complex would not contain school-age children, it would not create any additional demand for costly public education.

P&Z action on Liberty at Newtown is expected at an upcoming session.

The WPCA has scheduled a July 25 public hearing on setting sewer connection fees for the proposed Liberty at Newtown.