Date: Wed 07-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

conservation-Newtown-Hunt

Full Text:

Newtown Hunt Fails In Bid For Wetlands Permit

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Citing environmental concerns, Conservation Commission members have rejected a

wetlands construction permit for Newtown Hunt, a 26-lot residential

subdivision proposed for 114 acres off Hawleyville Road and Farrell Road in

Hawleyville.

Commission members April 28 unanimously turned down the development project

proposed by Toll Brothers, Inc., "without prejudice," meaning the developer

will be able to submit a revised version of the project without undergoing a

waiting period.

Panel members listed two reasons for their rejection of the application -- the

need to clarify the extent of a floodplain in the area, and the lack of an

alternate development plan to eliminate the need for extensive earthen filling

for new road construction, said C. Stephen Driver, town conservation official.

A 1978 federal study on floodplains in Newtown didn't address the area

proposed for development, Mr Driver said. The developer has submitted

information on the extent of the floodplain there, he added.

To clarify the extent of the floodplain at the development site, Conservation

Commission members are asking the state Department of Environmental Protection

(DEP) to delineate the floodplain, Mr Driver said.

The location of the floodplain has implications for the future development of

Hawleyville. The lower the elevation at which the floodplain is set, the

greater the amount of future development that is possible.

The applicant has provided the Conservation Commission with different maps

showing the edge of the floodplain at two different elevations.

In an April 19 letter to Scott R. Choquette of DEP's flood management program,

Mr Driver writes "The Town of Newtown is concerned that Pond Brook is the only

large watershed in Newtown that has never been studied. This watershed is

under extreme development pressures and without a full study (the town) will

find it difficult to properly implement the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance

of the Town of Newtown... We are requesting that your agency review the

floodplain for this specific application and... develop a flood insurance

study for the Pond Brook (area) as soon as possible."

Establishing the extent of the floodplain in the area will create an

elevational baseline for future development in Hawleyville, Mr Driver said.

Filling

Besides the floodplain issue, Conservation Commission members turned down the

Newtown Hunt application because they oppose the developer's extensive filling

work proposed to extend a road into the site from Farrell Road, Mr Driver

said.

The applicant submitted a road development plan calling for the placement of

up to 24 vertical feet of earthen fill to create a roadbed for a street which

would extend from Farrell Road onto the site, he said.

Commission members want the applicant to modify that development approach for

the property, reducing the amount of filling which would be needed, Mr Driver

said.

In putting together the development proposal, Toll Brothers is combining four

individual land parcels. The owner of record is listed as J&M Realty and

Associates. The site lies primarily in an area with 2-acre minimum residential

zoning. Almost half of the 114-acre site lies in wetlands.

Pocono Brook, a tributary of Pond Brook, runs through the site, as do the

Algonquin and Iroquois natural gas transmission pipelines. The property has a

varied landscape with fields, thickets, hedgerows, brooks, excavated ponds,

wetlands and watercourses. Some of the site is flat, while other sections are

steep and rocky. A trail system and open space would be provided.

Besides the Newtown Hunt proposal, Toll Brothers has developed Newtown Chase

and Greenleaf Farms in Newtown. The firm is developing Ridgebury Hills in

Danbury. Toll Brothers is a large nationwide luxury home builder. The company

has done extensive residential development in Fairfield County and Westchester

County.