Full Text:

Hearing Set For Sept 2 On Avalon Apt Complex

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Avalon at Newtown, the largest private residential complex ever proposed

locally, is scheduled as the subject of a Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z)

public hearing on Thursday, September 2.

The hearing is slated for 8 pm in Room A-107 at Newtown High School, 12

Berkshire Road. A P&Z business meeting is scheduled to start at 7:30 pm.

Avalon Bay Communities, Inc, proposes the construction of 304 rental

apartments on a 40.7-acre parcel at 178 Mt Pleasant Road in Hawleyville.

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

multi-story buildings. The steep, rocky, heavily wooded site is across the

street from Cassio Kennels. The site abuts the Bethel town line.

Avalon owns more than 40,000 apartments nationally, about 3,500 of which are

in Connecticut. The firm, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange,

develops, builds, owns and manages apartment complexes.

The high construction density of the proposed development has prompted town

officials to take a long, hard look at the project.

The King's Mark Environmental Review Team, an intergovernmental study group,

is preparing a report on how the project would affect the local environment.

Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's consulting engineering firm, is reviewing

aspects of the proposal including traffic, sewage disposal, public utilities,

drainage and conformance to zoning regulations.

On Thursday, August 26, after the deadline for this edition of The Bee ,

Avalon was scheduled to submit a request to the Water Pollution Control

Authority (WPCA) to use some of the town's wastewater treatment capacity in

the planned Hawleyville sewer system. The town has not yet built the municipal

sewer system which will send sewage from Hawleyville to Danbury via Bethel.

Also, on Wednesday, September 8, the wetlands construction aspects of the

Avalon proposal are scheduled to be the subject of a Conservation Commission

public hearing, as well as the firm's request to cut down almost 2,400 trees

on the site. That hearing is scheduled for 7:30 pm at the town land use office

in Canaan House at Fairfield Hills.

P&Z Requests

Avalon is seeking three separate approvals from the P&Z in connection with its

development proposal.

Avalon wants an amendment to the zoning regulations, a change of zone, and a

site plan approval from the P&Z.

In its application, Avalon seeks to create a new zoning designation known as a

Housing Opportunity Development (HOD) zone. That zone would be customized to

allow the specific development proposed by the applicant. The application

proposes much higher construction densities than currently allowed by the town

in multifamily zones.

If the P&Z approves a zoning amendment allowing a HOD zone, Avalon would then

seek to change the existing Professional and Residential zoning for the

property to a HOD zone.

If that change of zone is approved, the applicant would then seek a site plan

approval from the P&Z.

Such multi-part applications are typically submitted sequentially to the P&Z

and considered at separate public hearings. Avalon, however, requested that

all three applications be considered at the same hearing.

The developer submitted the application to the town under the terms of the

state's Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Act. Affordable housing units are

reserved for families which fall under certain annual income limits.

The complex would contain 124 one-bedroom, 110 two-bedroom and 70

three-bedroom apartments, for a total of 554 bedrooms. The complex would have

608 parking spaces, with the potential for up to 733 spaces.

Avalon proposes designating an open space area for passive recreation adjacent

to the Bethel town line.

While town officials acknowledge the need for affordable housing, they have

questioned the number of apartments which Avalon has proposed for the

Hawleyville site.

P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano has said the P&Z has a set of affordable housing

regulations which developers can use to develop such housing. Avalon instead

has submitted proposed new regulations which would allow it to build the

304-unit project at a much higher density than current regulations allow.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal has said the developers are seeking too

dense a project. "They're looking for much too much density," he has said.