Sandy Hook Center Redevelopment

Gains P&Z Approval

By Andrew Gorosko

A local business owner’s plans to redevelop of a section of Sandy Hook Center with several commercial buildings, including a branch office of Newtown Savings Bank and a child daycare center, has gained Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approval.

At an August 5 session, P&Z members issued a special permit to developer Verdat Kala for the project planned for properties at #2, #4, #6, and #8 Riverside Road. Mr Kala is the proprietor of The Villa Restaurant & Pizza at 4 Riverside Road.

The project, which has the working name Sandy Hook Villa, gained approval from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) on July 28. The developer intends to link the project to the municipal sanitary sewer system.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said the P&Z’s approval is contingent upon the town Aquifer Protection Agency’s (APA) determining that the project would have no significant adverse effects on the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer, which is the town’s sole source aquifer. The APA comprises the members of the IWC, which makes recommendations to the P&Z for its action on aquifer-related development proposals.

On August 11, the APA endorsed the aquifer protection aspects of the project.

Voting in favor of Mr Kala’s redevelopment project were: Ms Dean, and P&Z members Dennis Bloom, Jane Brymer, and Rudolph Pozek. Member Michael F. Porco, Sr, recused himself.

In the redevelopment project, the four parcels on Riverside Road would be combined to form one 3.2-acre site. The land abuts the prominent intersection of Riverside Road, Washington Avenue, Church Hill Road, and Glen Road.

A salient feature of the project would be the presence of a Newtown Savings Bank branch office at 2 Riverside Road, on the corner of Riverside Road and Washington Avenue. An existing commercial building there would be demolished to create a site for bank construction.

Overall, the project would involve the demolition of three existing buildings and the construction of four new commercial buildings, plus the expansion of the existing restaurant. The project would be built in two phases, with the first phase including construction of the bank and a child daycare center. Retail and office uses would come in a second phase.

In granting a special permit for the project, P&Z members found that the redevelopment plans are consistent with the tenets of the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development. They also decided that the proposed construction meets the terms of applicable zoning regulations.

Also, P&Z members concurred that the project is consistent with the Sandy Hook Design District (SHDD) zoning regulations.

The SHDD zoning regulations encourage a diversity of compatible uses in Sandy Hook Center to reinforce the district as a historic, mixed-use hamlet functioning as a neighborhood commercial hub, which is also attractive to visitors. SHDD zoning regulations emphasize the value of the pedestrian scale, historic quality, and natural resources of the area. The regulations seek to encourage mixed-use development that locates dwellings near employment, shopping, and services. The SHDD regulations are intended to encourage the creation of public walkways, bicycle paths, shared off-street parking lots, and landscaped public spaces.

The redevelopment project would include design elements similar to those used in the Sandy Hook Center Streetscape Project, in which the town improved the appearance and functionality of the easternmost section of Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center.  

During the past two months, people who spoke at public hearings about Mr Kala’s redevelopment plans agreed that such a project would benefit the local economy, but some expressed displeasure with the appearance of the planned bank building, criticizing the structure’s aesthetics, likening it to a factory building from the past.

However, the town’s Design Advisory Board (DAB) had endorsed the appearance of the bank building. The DAB advises the P&Z on architectural and landscape architecture issues.

In approving the special permit, P&Z members required that the developer comply with seven conditions keyed to aquifer protection.

Chief among those conditions are requirements that the property owner follow an aquifer protection policy for interior operations and for exterior grounds maintenance, including having a set of emergency procedures on hand that would be employed in the event of a toxic spill on the site.