The town has received for regulatory review applications detailing a development project for Hawleyville that proposes the construction of a large church, a major multifamily housing complex, and a diner.

The mixed-use project is proposed for approximately 42 acres that lie generally west of Hawleyville Road (Route 25) and generally south of the eastbound lanes of Interstate 84, near the Exit 9 off-ramp.

The land, near Covered Bridge Road and Hillcrest Drive, is owned by Grace Family Church, formerly known as Grace Christian Fellowship. More than 11 years ago, the church purchased the 42 acres for $3.1 million.

In its P&Z construction application, the church is seeking a special zoning permit to build a place of religious worship at 9 Covered Bridge Road.

Grace Family Church currently occupies a 13,500-square-foot church at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6), which lies about one mile from the development site. The group wants to build a new 24,900-square-foot church to meet the needs of its expanding congregation. The church started in Newtown in 1984.

The church would retain ownership of the about 17.1 acres where a new church would be built.

The church would sell about 21 acres to Southport Real Estate Holdings, LLC, or to Covered Bridge, LLC, for the construction of six large condominium apartment buildings where 180 dwellings would be built.

The land where the church and the condo complex would be built is in a R-2 (Residential) zone.

The church had gained town development approvals to build a new church on the site in 2007, but never pursued its construction.

The church would sell about 3.7 acres with frontage at 13 Hawleyville Road to those firms for the construction of an approximately 4,160-square-foot 162-seat diner, near Exit 9. That land is in a Hawleyville Center Design District (HCDD) zone.

The condo complex/diner aspects of the three-pronged development proposal are being submitted under the terms of the town’s Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) zoning regulations, which were created by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) in January. The applicant is seeking a special permit from the P&Z.

The IH-10 rules require that least 20 percent of the dwellings in such complexes be designated as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families. Consequently, at least 36 apartments in the complex would need to be designated as such. The complex would have a clubhouse and swimming pool.

The IH-10 rules allow such housing complexes to have a commercial component, either within the complex or nearby. Thus, the diner is being proposed under the terms of the IH-10 rules.

The planned expansion of the town’s Hawleyville sanitary sewer system, which is slated to occur later this year, would make possible the high construction density of the proposed condo complex. The town is expanding the sewer system to spur local economic development.

Earlier this summer, the church had submitted a development application for the church alone, but town land use officials asked that applications be submitted with all three components of the overall mixed-use development project – church, condo complex, and diner.

According to the application documents, the church would be constructed at 9 Covered Bridge Road. The condo complex would be built on land lying generally west of Covered Bridge Road, with vehicle access provided via Hillcrest Drive.

According to the documents, the condo complex would be comprised of six, three-story buildings, each of which would contain 30 apartments. Below those the three residential levels within each building, there would one level of vehicle parking in a large garage containing 28 parking spaces. Surface parking also would be provided near each building.

A voluminous traffic/access report is included in the application documents.

Both the P&Z and the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) will be conducting public hearings in the coming weeks on the mixed-use development proposal.

The P&Z is slated to start separate sequential public hearings on the condo complex/diner application and also on the church application beginning at 7:30 pm on Thursday, August 20, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

The IWC is scheduled to start a hearing on the church application at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, August 26, at the same place. The IWC is expected to start a public hearing on the condo complex/diner application at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, September 9, at the same place.

The applicants for the church project and for the condo complex/diner project are seeking separate wetlands/watercourses protection permits form the IWC.