Date: Fri 15-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-New-England-Heights

Full Text:

Revised Plan For New England Heights Due

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The developers of New England Heights, Section II, a 13-lot residential

subdivision proposed for 30 acres off Great Ring Road and Bradley Lane in

Sandy Hook, plan to revise their plans and submit them to the Planning and

Zoning Commission (P&Z) for further review.

In letters to the P&Z read at a May 7 public hearing on the proposed

development, town technical staff members questioned aspects of the

subdivision plans.

Town Engineer Ronald Bolmer questioned whether the design plans meet all

requirements of the town's subdivision regulations. Mr Bolmer wrote the plans

don't provide a cost estimate for fire protection equipment, nor do they

depict certain physical features at the site.

The town's health department reported the proposed building lots don't meet

the health code requirements that are related to home construction.

Applicant Jay Keillor, an engineer who has a financial interest in the

development, told P&Z members that a new road would serve 9 of the 13 lots in

the proposed subdivision. Four lots would have frontage on the north side of

Bradley Lane.

As part of the development project, Bradley Lane would be widened without

altering stone walls alongside the road, Mr Keillor said.

Mr Keillor said the P&Z's revised land use regulations, which strictly limit

the removal and placement of earth materials on building lots, forced him to

design a subdivision with minimal disruption to the landscape. Those

regulations limit developers to removing or placing no more than 200 cubic

yards of earthen materials on a lot, other than the movement of materials

required for actual home construction.

The revised rules, which were approved by the P&Z about one year ago, are

designed to prevent gross changes to the landscape.

Mr Keillor told P&Z members that plans for the development address the issues

raised by town technical staff members. He responded to the concerns raised by

staffers in presenting the plans to the P&Z.

Resident Mark Hunihan of 47 Great Ring Road told P&Z members that traffic

speeds through the area, pointing out that added homes would mean added

traffic.

P&Z Chairman Stephen Koch asked that the project's applicant, Pond View, LLC,

submit revised plans for the P&Z's review.

In July 1997, the P&Z turned down an earlier version of New England Heights in

a 4-to-0 vote.

The developer had failed to mail notices of a June 5, 1997, public hearing on

the subdivision proposal to nearby property owners. The P&Z solicited public

comments at that hearing, but no one spoke.

Because nearby property owners weren't notified, the P&Z's regulations were

violated, nullifying the application.