Developer Seeking Special Permit

By Andrew Gorosko

P&Z members are reviewing a developer’s proposal to position two construction trailers alongside Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6) in Hawleyville to serve as a sales office and as a model apartment for The Woods at Newtown, a planned 178-unit age-restricted condominium complex.

At a December 21 public hearing, P&Z members reviewed technical drawings submitted by Milone & MacBroom, Inc, of Cheshire, which represents Bashert Developers, LLC, of New City, N.Y., in Rockland County.

Last June, following lengthy review, P&Z members unanimously approved the construction of The Woods at Newtown at a 50-acre site.

The project would consist of 132 units of “congregate housing,” and 46 “independent living” condos, all for people over age 55. The site, which has a street address of 12-16 Pocono Road, would have driveway access from 166 Mt Pleasant Road.

The Woods site extends southward to Mt Pleasant Road in the area that lies between the entrances to Liberty at Newtown and Grace Christian Fellowship Church. The developer would position the two construction trailers alongside Mt Pleasant Road in that area. Liberty at Newtown is a 96-unit age-restricted condo complex.

Bashert is seeking a modification to its condo complex special permit to install the two trailers. The two trailers would enclose 3,708 square feet of space, including 2,268 square feet of space for the model apartment and 1,440 square feet for the sales office. The two trailers would be connected.

Jason Williams, a landscape designer for Milone & MacBroom, told P&Z members that the two trailers would not be permanent features at the site, but only temporary structures that would remain in place while Bashert is marketing the project. A gravel-surfaced parking area would lie beside the trailers. Excavation and earthen filling would be needed to prepare the site for trailer placement.

Engineer Ted Hart of Milone & MacBroom, representing Bashert, explained to P&Z members the extension of public utilities to the two trailers. The site would contain stormwater drainage features.

The site lies approximately 120 feet east of the Liberty at Newtown driveway and approximately 500 feet west of the Grace Christian Fellowship driveway.

P&Z member Lilla Dean asked why Bashert wants to install the trailers a considerable distance to the west of what will eventually be the driveway entrance to The Woods at Newtown.

Mr Williams responded that the planned location would be easy for potential homebuyers to find. Also, the planned location is well away from the construction traffic that will be using The Woods’ driveway while the condo complex is under construction, he said.

The driveway to be used by The Woods also serves the 100-unit Homesteads at Newtown, an assisted-living apartment building.

Although the Woods at Newtown’s street address is on Pocono Road, the developer has agreed not to use Pocono Road for construction access to the site. An existing Pocono Road entry-exit point at the property would be used only for emergency access to the site.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland expressed concerns about The Woods’ sales/model trailers’ location on Mt Pleasant Road lying close to the driveway for Liberty at Newtown, potentially causing confusion among motorists.

P&Z members asked that Bashert’s representatives provide them with plans for a sign which Bashert would install at its sales/model site advertising The Woods.

P&Z members plan to resume their hearing on the trailer installation proposal on January 4. The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) plans to resume a public hearing on the matter on January 10.

The Woods is planned for the site of a depleted sand-and-gravel mine, where The Homesteads at Newtown had planned to construct a 178-unit age-restricted housing complex, comprised of congregate housing and independent living units. After The Homesteads entered bankruptcy, those plans did not materialize. Bashert acquired the largely unbuilt development site for $8.9 million in the spring of 2005 through bankruptcy proceedings.

Twelve condos that The Homesteads’ developers had constructed, but which were never occupied, will be demolished to make way for The Woods at Newtown.

Bashert plans that the 132 congregate housing condominiums be located in ten large apartment buildings surrounding a massive courtyard, beneath which there would be covered parking for 272 vehicles. The parking would be located at ground level with a roof atop that parking garage functioning as the “courtyard” amid the ten buildings.

The 46 independent living condos would be housed in eight separate buildings, with conventional attached garages. A clubhouse also would be constructed.