Emergency Access Only—

Selectmen Propose Compromise On Connecting Cul De Sacs

By John Voket

A roomful of concerned neighbors from the area of Little Brook Lane, Turkey Hill, and Turkey Roost Roads learned they would all continue to enjoy the relative quiet of their beloved cul de sacs on Tuesday. Selectmen announced a compromise on a former proposal to link Turkey Hill and Little Brook into a single through roadway.

Instead, the selectmen briefed residents on an alternative they planned to present to the developer who formerly was counting on the road extension to provide enough frontage to subdivide two building lots. The compromise will lengthen Little Brook Lane enough to provide the necessary frontage for Bridgeport developer Anthony DeLucia to legally accomplish his projects, but leaving an approximately 80-foot stretch of undeveloped land between what is now two dead-end roads.

The space in question will continue to prevent through traffic from traveling between the two roads, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal explained. But in the event of an emergency, if access to any homes on either street was somehow blocked, town highway crews would be able to forge a quick pass-through using heavy equipment like a bucket loader or grader.

Mr Rosenthal said he immediately sought alternative ideas when more than 60 local residents turned out for a contentious information session on the proposal August 23. At that meeting, residents presented 200 signatures on petitions opposing the connection.

By last Tuesday’s selectmen meeting the number of petitioners had grown to 227, but the effort turned out to be more ceremonial in nature because the new proposal was welcomed by most of the former opponents. Prior to public comments, Mr Rosenthal said he was empathetic to the many families with children who did not relish the idea of their quiet dead end streets becoming throughways.

But he was equally adamant that the proliferation of new homes in the area called for an alternate emergency route to and from the streets in question.

“This compromise will address the public safety issue without making this a through road,” he said.

The proposal created a need to withdraw an existing request for a variance currently filed with the Zoning Board of Appeals, without prejudice. The move would allow the immediate consideration of the new proposal.

To move forward with the alternate plan, Mr DeLucia would be required to sign off on the agreement to pursue a new variance. Someone answering the phone at Mr DeLucia’s home in Bridgeport indicated he would not be available to comment on the matter until after The Bee went to press Thursday.

If the plan is accepted by the landowner in time to legally advertise a hearing on the new variance, the public would be able to hear and comment about the details at a September 20 ZBA meeting, Mr Rosenthal said. The first selectman assumed the developer would be agreeable because he would still be able to subdivide to his needs, and the lots would potentially become more valuable because of the new proposal.

“I believe this new plan will increase the value of each of his lots by keeping the road a cul de sac,” Mr Rosenthal said.

The announcement resulted in most of the audience breaking out in spontaneous applause as the motion to withdraw the original connecting proposal was made.

One of the neighbors, Natalia Aparicio, praised the selectmen, saying the compromise represented “a creative solution that took into account the concerns of residents.”

Mr Rosenthal repeatedly thanked the neighbors for helping convince town officials to seek other alternatives.

“This is evidence that democracy works,” Mr Rosenthal said.

Besides the advantage for emergency access, it was originally conceived that the road connection would provide town highway crews with improved access to Toddy Hill Road and Route 34. The town highway garage is located on Turkey Hill Road, near its intersection with Mile Hill Road South.

Until a decade ago, Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road were connected, after which that connection was cut when residential land was subdivided in the area and a turnaround circle was created at the end of Little Brook Lane. Since Turkey Hill Road crosses above the Pootatuck River, in the event that the river should flood over Turkey Hill Road, as it has in the past, the proposed 80-foot undeveloped right of way that could be cleared quickly by highway crews, providing an alternate access way to a neighborhood that would otherwise be isolated.

If the variance is accepted by Mr DeLucia, the town would hold the deed on that right of way between the two streets. The former linkage between Little Brook Lane and Turkey Hill Road was created by the town as an emergency road after a former bridge on Turkey Hill Road was washed out by a flood.

One area resident who recalled the time when the two roads were linked said that speeding motorists from elsewhere used the through-road as shortcut in their travels, disrupting the area. Although the town was planning numerous improvements if the roads became joined, Mr Rosenthal said he still anticipated some improvements, including guard rails, would eventually be affected.

(Andrew Gorosko contributed to this story.)