WSA Rebuffs Request For Condo Complex Sewer Connection

By Andrew Gorosko

The Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) has rebuffed a development firm’s controversial request for a municipal sewer connection for its proposed construction of 104 age-restricted condominium units on a 35-acre site off Walnut Tree Hill Road.

At a December 9 WSA session, WSA Chairman Richard Zang told representatives of Toll Brothers, Inc, that the area proposed for 104 condominiums is on land lying outside the town’s sewer service area for the central sewer system.

“The Water Pollution Control Plan does not allocate any [sewer] system capacity to any new development outside the sewer service area,” Mr Zang said.

Toll Brothers has an application pending before the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) to change the zoning designations on the site. 

Toll Brothers is seeking to rezone the 35 acres from R-1 (Residential) and R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing). Most of the site is currently zoned as R-1, with a strip of land located alongside Walnut Tree Hill Road zoned as R-2.

R-1 zoning is designated for single-family houses on lots of at least one acre. R-2 zoning allows single-family houses on lots of at least two acres. EH-10 zoning is designated for high-density, multifamily housing for people over age 55. A P&Z public hearing on the zone change request is scheduled for January 20.

On December 2, opponents of the condo project presented the P&Z with about 135 petition signatures opposing a zone change. On December 9, the opponents said the number of petition signatures had risen to about 185.

The 35-acre Walnut tree Hill Road site has a street address of 79 Church Hill Road. The wooded, hilly property, which is owned by Carmine Renzulli of Norwalk, lies on the west side of Walnut Tree Hill Road, extending from Church Hill Road to the Evergreen Road area. The site is near westbound Interstate 84’s Exit 10 off-ramp. The Toll Brothers’ site lies across Walnut Tree Hill Road from the 189-unit age-restricted Walnut Tree Village condo complex, which is in its final construction stages.

On December 9, Mr Zang said the WSA is taking no position on Toll Brothers’ request for a zone change for the 35 acres.

“But if the town believes it is in its long-term best interests to approve a zoning change to EH-10, the WSA would recommend that the development be limited to the number of units that could be served by subsurface [wastewater] disposal without mechanical pretreatment,” Mr Zang said.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Toll Brothers, said that the firm initially had thought that the site could support 104 condos with a large-scale septic system.

Ensuing testing, however, indicated that the site’s soil characteristics would not allow that many condos to be served by a large septic system, he said. The site could support a septic system to handle the wastewater from 67 condos, provided that earthen materials are brought to the site to make such a system workable, he said.

 Mr Zang said if the P&Z approves a change of zone for the site from R-1 and R-2 to EH-10, the WSA would consider allowing a large-scale septic system to be built there. The number of condos that could be supported by such a large septic system would have to be substantiated, he said.

Both the WSA and the state Department of Environmental Protection would oversee the operation of such a large wastewater disposal system, said Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

If the town supports allowing Toll Brothers to build a greater number of condos than could be served by a large-scale septic system, the firm could then seek a municipal sewer connection for the property from the WSA, Mr Zang said.

Opponents’ Response

Following the WSA’s December 9 review of Toll Brothers’ sewering request, opponents of the condo proposal gathered outside the WSA’s offices on Commerce Road.

Attorney Ted Backer, representing six Walnut Tree Hill Road residents opposed to the condo project, said the WSA’s action was “positive.”

Mr Backer said that approving municipal sewer service for the 35-acre site would automatically result in a high-density development on that property. He termed the WSA’s response to the sewering request “a victory for the neighborhood.”

At a November 18 WSA session, Mr Backer had told WSA members that approving the sewering request would be inconsistent with the priorities for sewer connections listed in the town’s sewer ordinance. Such a sewer connection also would not be in accord with the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, according to Mr Backer.

In a recent memorandum to the WSA, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal seeks to dissuade the agency from providing a sewer connection for the proposed condo complex.

Mr Rosenthal wrote, in part, “It would be inappropriate to grant sewer capacity to the proposed condominium project.

“I have concerns about traffic and traffic safety on Walnut Tree Hill Road and its intersection with Church Hill Road. Walnut Tree Hill Road already has many significant traffic issues without the addition of another condominium complex on this section of the road. It would be my estimation that if the necessary traffic improvements could be made to support this complex, the cost would be prohibitive,” he wrote.

The first selectman adds, “Exit 10 is one of the town’s major points of entry and a large condominium complex on this particular parcel would not be the type of image the town would wish to present.”

Walnut Tree Hill Road residents who spoke at the November 18 WSA session said that having two large condo complexes in their neighborhood would damage their property values, as well as cause a significant increase in traffic volume in an area that already has traffic problems.

Besides the Walnut Tree Hill Road condo proposal, Toll Brothers is simultaneously seeking town approvals to build 60 age-restricted condos on a 51-acre site at 21 Oakview Road, near Newtown High School.