P&Z Rethinks Impact Of Proposed Sports Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are expressing some second thoughts about the zoning rule changes they unanimously approved last spring, which would allow a major private recreational indoor/outdoor sports complex as a permitted land use in a M-2A (Industrial) zone.

The P&Z zoning rule changes came in April following a March request from developer SEPG, LLC, which has a purchase option to buy a sloping 33.4-acre site at 93 Mt Pleasant Road, where it wants to build the proposed Newtown Sports Center.

The initial construction phase would include indoor and outdoor sports facilities, as well as office space. Future phases of the four-building project would include office space and industrial space. One version of the overall project has been proposed to enclose more than 320,000 square feet of space. The site, which would contain an estimated 500 parking spaces, lies west of Whippoorwill Hill Road.

The developer has yet to submit formal applications for the project to the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) and the P&Z. The developer is seeking approval from the Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) for a sanitary sewer extension to the site.

Upset that they were unaware of the implications of the zoning rule changes that were being sought by SEPG due to a vague legal notice for a March P&Z public hearing, a group of residents from the Whippoorwill Hill Road/Tory Lane area is urging the P&Z to rescind its decision to allow such sports complexes in the M-2A zone. The site is located in the only M-2A zone in town.

The residents charge that such a complex would be troublesome to them in terms of noise, traffic, lighting, and security issues. The P&Z held a July public hearing on those residents’ request that the P&Z reverse its earlier decision to allow such sports complexes.

On August 2, P&Z members discussed the zoning rule changes.

P&Z member Robert Poulin questioned the wisdom of the P&Z’s past action to allow such sports complexes as a permitted use.

“I think it’s a sad case that we [would] let something like this [zoning rule change] stand on the books, and we should remove it…I think it’s a big mistake,” he said.

P&Z member Dennis Bloom said that if he had realized that much of a sports center’s activities would occur on playing fields located outdoors, he would not have endorsed the zoning rule changes.

“This is the big first step in the sequence,” Mr Poulin said of an applicant’s need to obtain zoning rule changes before formally applying for a land use that previously had not been allowed by the zoning regulations.

P&Z member Lilla Dean said the proposed sports complex would not be near the homes along Whippoorwill Hill Road. “This would be quite some distance from those houses,” she said. The residents on that street, though, would see and hear the activities at a sports complex, she added.

“That property will be developed,” she said of the eventual development of the site, which has M-2A zoning.

Mr Poulin observed that such outdoor sports facilities tend to be noisy and brightly lit at night. Mr Poulin suggested that a sports complex that only has indoor facilities would be acceptable for the area.

The outdoor aspect of the project is its problematic feature, he said.

Ms Dean responded that the town’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) reviewed the sports complex proposal and endorsed it as a form of economic development. The Newtown Sports Center would be a huge multimillion-dollar project, if it is ever constructed, she said.

Ms Dean said she believes that the P&Z could limit permitted activities on the site “to fit the neighborhood.”

“I think we all have to give this [situation] some consideration,” she said.

P&Z member Sten Wilson suggested that the P&Z arrive at some “happy medium” taking into consideration the various interests involved.

Ms Dean suggested that the P&Z somehow modify its April zoning rule changes that allowed an indoor/outdoor recreational sports complex as a permitted use in a M-2A zone.

P&Z members are expected to act on the matter at an upcoming session.

In its April zoning rule changes, P&Z members decided that recreation facilities in M-2A zones may include indoor and/or outdoor golf courses, dance studios, health and exercise facilities, racquetball, squash, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, baseball, football, soccer and lacrosse fields, field hockey, track and field, swimming pools, ice-skating rinks, and any other recognized collegiate sport. Also, such facilities may include seating for spectators.

The purpose of M-2A zoning is to allow significant economic development, without adversely affecting the character of surrounding neighborhoods or overburdening the natural or built environments.

Other permitted uses allowed in an M-2A zone include office buildings, hotel/conference centers, light industry, and research-and-development complexes. Retail and service businesses are allowed as accessory uses.