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Hearing Set July 14 On Avalon Proposal

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The Conservation Commission has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday, July

14, to consider the wetlands construction aspects of Avalon at Newtown, a

304-unit rental apartment complex proposed for 178 Mt Pleasant Road in

Hawleyville.

The hearing is slated for 7:30 pm at the town land use office at Canaan House,

4 Fairfield Circle South at Fairfield Hills.

Avalon Bay Communities, Inc's, application represents the largest private

residential complex ever proposed locally. In a parallel application pending

before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), Avalon seeks to rewrite the

town's zoning regulations to allow the high construction densities envisioned

for the complex on the north side of Mt Pleasant Road adjacent to the Bethel

town line.

In its application to the Conservation Commission, Avalon seeks permission for

construction work in one wetland, plus five other regulated activities lying

within 50 feet of wetlands.

Conservation Official C. Stephen Driver has said he considers the developer's

biggest regulatory challenge to be gaining approval to build a driveway across

significant wetland area adjacent to Mt Pleasant Road to provide access to the

upland area at the rear of the site. The 40.7-acre site is across Mt Pleasant

Road from Cassio Kennels.

Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, of Manchester, the town's consulting engineer, has been

doing an engineering review of the development plans on behalf of the

Conservation Commission and P&Z.

Also, the town has asked Avalon to allow the King's Mark Environmental Review

Team to assess Avalon's environmental impact.

Conservation Commission Chairman Sandra Michaud has assigned commission

members Wesley Gillingham and Sally O'Neill to review wetlands construction

aspects of the Avalon proposal.

Besides the approvals required from the Conservation Commission and P&Z, the

developer would need approvals from the Water Pollution Control Authority

(WPCA) for sewage waste disposal, plus the extension of a public water supply

by United Water.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal has questioned the high construction density

of the Avalon proposal, noting that the complex would be much more densely

built than current zoning regulations allow.

Avalon wants to build 228 market-rate and 76 affordable apartments in 11

multi-story buildings on the steep, rocky, heavily wooded site. The complex

would contain 124 one-bedroom, 110 two-bedroom and 70 three-bedroom

apartments, for a total of 554 bedrooms.

In June, Becker and Becker Associates, Inc, one of four firms spearheading

mixed-use redevelopment proposals for the state-owned Fairfield Hills,

replaced Avalon Bay Communities with Archstone Communities as its joint

venture multi-family developer for the Fairfield Hills project.

Becker and Becker explained that Archstone is more comfortable than Avalon

with operating within the residential redevelopment density constraints for

Fairfield Hills approved by the P&Z and endorsed by the state.