Hanover Heights Proposal Sparks Concern From Nearby Residents 

By Andrew Gorosko

People living near an eight-lot residential subdivision proposed for 32 acres off Hanover Road are pressing Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members to consider their concerns when reviewing plans for Hanover Heights, in order to minimize the proposed construction project’s adverse effects on the area.

Developer Robert Mastroni proposes Hanover Heights for a steep, rugged site at 64 to 74-A Hanover Road. The property is on the east side of Hanover Road, near the intersection of Hanover Road and The Boulevard Extension. The project had earlier been proposed as a six-lot subdivision on a smaller site.

The P&Z conducted a second public hearing on Hanover Heights on November 17, following an initial hearing that was held on October 6. A third hearing was slated for the night of December 1, after the deadline for this edition of The Bee.

The developer proposes that a fee in lieu of open space be donated to the town instead of designating open space land on the site. The town uses such fees to acquire open space elsewhere.

At the November 17 P&Z session, area residents again pressed their concerns about potential negative effects of the proposed construction.

Dillina Briglia of 77 Hanover Road said the project could adversely affect her quality of life. Ms Briglia told P&Z members that the construction work might deplete her domestic water well’s water supply or contaminate the water. Ms Briglia said she uses a dug well to supply her old house with water.

Ms Briglia added that stormwater running off the development site might cause problems in the area.

“Give this a lot of thought,” she urged P&Z members.

Kevin Fitzgerald of 24 Old Farm Hill Road said that insufficient public notice had been provided for the November 17 public hearing.

Mr Fitzgerald urged that an old red barn on the development site be protected from destruction.

Engineer Alan Shepard, representing the developer, said that the barn would be relocated either elsewhere on the site or elsewhere in town.

Mr Fitzgerald objected to the developer’s planned use of rip-rap in an area where a rock cut would be made through solid rock to allow the proposed dead-end subdivision road to enter the site from Hanover Road. Mr Fitzgerald termed rip-rap “ugly.” Rip-rap is a mass of broken stones that are thrown together irregularly or loosely to stabilize steep slopes.

Robin Fitzgerald of 24 Old Farm Hill Road, a Newtown resident since 1999, told P&Z members that “Newtown is a town at a crossroads,” in terms of its continuing residential development. “It seems like our town is being deluged by developers,” she said. Developers come to town, build projects, make money, and then leave, she said. The town should curb ongoing development, she said.

People living near the development site oppose the project because they realize that it will adversely affect them, she said. The children who live in the new houses to be built will require costly public education, she added.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil explained that landowners have a legal right to develop their land provided that they abide by the town’s land use regulations. Mr O’Neil urged that Ms Fitzgerald work to have the town increase its open space acquisitions in view of the continuing residential development.

P&Z member Sten Wilson said that people interested in land preservation must work for the acquisition of public open space. “Do something in the community, please,” he said.

In response to the public comments, Mr Shepard said that trees would be preserved along the edge of Hanover Heights building lots to create visual screening for the project.

Blasting is a more careful process than it had been in the past, he said, adding that blasters are insured for damage that they might create to adjacent properties.

Mr Shepard said that residential properties downslope of the development site have water wells that are fed by adjacent wetlands, adding that the proposed construction would not damage those well water supplies.

Ms Briglia responded that blasting can damage water wells.