Developer Proposes Eight Houses At Former Gravel Mine
Quail Hollowâ
Developer Proposes Eight Houses At Former Gravel Mine
By Andrew Gorosko
A developer is proposing the construction of eight single-family houses at the site of a depleted sand-and-gravel mine in Sandy Hook.
Developer George L. Trudell, II, doing business as GLT Residential, LLC, proposes Quail Hollow for a 29-acre site at 11 Philo Curtis Road.
The site lies across Philo Curtis Road from Elana Lane. The property is near Bishop Circle. The site is adjacent to the Exit 11 interchange of Interstate 84.
In late 2004, Mr Trudell had proposed Quail Hollow as a ten-lot subdivision, a development plan which the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) rejected for a variety of reasons, including development issues posed by the presence of steep slopes on the site. The P&Z had decided that the ten-lot development application violated the subdivision regulations, the zoning regulations, and the sand-and-gravel regulations.
Mr Trudell appealed that rejection in Danbury Superior Court early this year, but later withdrew the lawsuit.
P&Z members held a December 10 public hearing on the eight-lot Quail Hollow subdivision proposal. Spath-Bjorklund Associates, Inc, of Monroe is the engineering firm representing the developer. Attorney Robert Hall also represents the developer.
The site is owned by Berkshire Partners, LLC; D&H Homes, LLC, and The Estate of Francis DâAddario, according to documents filed with the P&Z.
The developer proposes extending a dead-end street from Philo Curtis Road onto the sandy site. The dead-end road would serve all eight building lots. The road would be lined with newly planted pin oaks and sugar maples. A 30,000-gallon underground water storage tank would be installed for firefighting use.
A section of the site that contains three vernal wetland areas would be off-limits to development. Construction must be kept at least 150 feet from the vernal wetlands, according to the Conservation Commission, which reviewed the project as the townâs wetlands protection agency.
The site has R-2 (Residential) zoning, which requires that single-family houses have a minimum lot size of two acres. But because steep slopes and wetlands cannot be included in such lot-size calculations, the site is estimated to yield only eight building lots.
Because the site is a depleted and unrestored sand-and-gravel mine, the property has very steep slopes. Extensive regrading would be needed to make the basin-shaped site usable for home construction. The site also formerly was a junkyard.
Most of the topsoil was stripped away from the property in the past. Youths have used the former surface mine for recreation with all-terrain vehicles.
An appraisal firm hired by GLT estimates the 29-acre siteâs market value at $860,000. The developer does not propose donating any open space land for public recreation. Instead, Mr Trudell proposes donating a fee in lieu of open space to the town, representing ten percent of the propertyâs market value, or $86,000.
If the P&Z were accept such a fee, to be used by the town for the acquisition of open space elsewhere, it would be paid in eight increments, as each of the eight building lots are sold. Each increment would be $10,750.
The Conservation Commission has issued the developer a wetlands permit, and has endorsed the proposalâs Aquifer Impact Statement. Such aquifer protection reviews are required when development is proposed on properties located within the townâs Aquifer Protection District (APD). The APD lies above the Pootatuck Aquifer, which is the source of two public water supplies.
P&Z members are expected to discuss and possibly act on the Quail Hollow proposal at a January 19 session.
Residents living near the Quail Hollow site have expressed a desire to have the land developed with new homes. Those residents have complained that the former mine has been the site of all-terrain-vehicle use, and also of parties where alcohol is consumed, posing a persistent nuisance to the neighborhood.
Development would require that topsoil be brought to the site to create a suitable base for plantings, such as turf, shrubs, and trees in the now-sandy and largely sterile environment. Extensive slope regrading would be done for the sake of safety and for aesthetic reasons.
In September 1996, a team of developers proposed Newtown Village, a 96-house complex, including 24 âaffordableâ houses, for the Philo Curtis Road site. The P&Z rejected that proposal. The developer appealed the rejection in court, but lost that appeal.
In March 1999, a judge upheld the P&Zâs rejection of that high-density condominium complex, ruling that the protection of water quality in the Pootatuck Aquifer overrode the need for affordable housing. The developers had proposed building a small-scale sewer system on the site to dispose of wastewater.
The Newtown Village proposal had drawn heavy opposition from nearby residents.
Quail Hollow would be the second depleted local sand-and-gravel mine converted into a residential neighborhood.
In a similar albeit larger project, in March 2002 the P&Z approved a 20-lot residential subdivision off Toddy Hill Road, near Sugarloaf Road, in a depleted former Newtown Sand & Gravel quarry. That project, which is now built, is known as Quarry Ridge Estates.