P&Z Fine Tunes Its Regulation

Governing Dead-End Streets

 By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has approved revised subdivision regulations intended to strictly limit the number of houses that can be built on a dead end street.

P&Z members unanimously approved the revision, which is intended to clarify ambiguities in the development rules.

The revised regulation, which took effect November 29, more explicitly states the P&Z’s intention to limit the number of houses on a dead end to 15 for public safety reasons.

The town limits the number of houses on dead ends to keep down the number of families that would be isolated from the town road network and emergency services if access to the street is blocked.

At a public hearing on the revision this month, P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano said the change amounts to regulatory “housekeeping” needed to tighten up the rules.

Local land engineer Alan Shepard told P&Z members he is concerned about the wording of the new regulations, noting the language could be improved to clarify the legal status of local roadways.

Local land engineer Richard Haas asked P&Z members why the applicant for a subdivision should be required to prove to the P&Z that a given road is a town road. He suggested that the town keep on file a current list of town roads.

The P&Z rule change stems from a past residential subdivision application in the Bancroft Road area, known as Watch Hill, in which the number of houses built in that subdivision became a legal issue.

In May, 1997, the developers of Watch Hill, Robert Mathison and Emory Palmer, sued the P&Z after the commission rejected the controversial Watch Hill. The P&Z’s rejection of Watch Hill had hinged on the town attorney’s interpretation that the development project would result in more than 15 houses on the town-owned, dead-end street Alpine Drive.

The developers prevailed in the lawsuit in seeking to overturn the subdivision rejection, resulting in the P&Z now revising its regulations.

The revised regulations’ intent hinges on the definition of the term “existing street.” The term is defined as a roadway which has received all the necessary town and state approvals to carry traffic as a street on or before October 2, 1967. The applicant for a subdivision will have the burden of proving that a street legally existed on October 2, 1967, and that the street continues to legally exist.