Several Major Proposals Converge On P&Z’s Agenda

By Andrew Gorosko

The Planning and Zoning Commission’s (P&Z) scheduled January 19 meeting is shaping up as one of the agency’s most eventful sessions in recent memory with the inclusion of four major development topics on the agenda. The meeting is slated to start at 7 pm at the town offices at 31 Peck’s Lane.

The P&Z is scheduled to discuss and possibly act on: the proposed construction of 54 age-restricted condominiums on Oakview Road; a requested change of zone from R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing) as a preliminary step toward a project that proposes 56 age-restricted condos on Alberts Hill Road; and a proposal to build eight houses in a former gravel mine on Philo Curtis Road.

Also, P&Z members are slated to discuss the possible rezoning of sections of South Main Street in the area lying between Borough Lane on the north and the Monroe town line on the south, as part of planned South Main Street Design District (SMSDD) zoning.

Such design district zoning is intended to encourage consistent, quality design in new commercial architecture and also in expanded existing commercial buildings.

The town already has design districts in Sandy Hook Center and Hawleyville Center. The borough has de facto commercial design district zoning in its Village District zoning regulations.

The P&Z’s discussion on South Main Street commercial zoning is slated to run from 7 to 8:30 pm.

Dwelling Proposals

Starting at 8:30 pm, the P&Z is slated to start on three other agenda items concerning dwellings.

The agency is scheduled to discuss and possibly act on a proposal from Toll Brothers, Inc, a Pennsylvania-based developer, for its envisioned 54-unit Regency at Newtown at an environmentally sensitive 51-acre site at 21 Oakview Road, near Newtown High School.

The firm has been seeking various town approvals since February 2004 for that condo complex intended for people over age 55. Since last October, the developer has been working out the details of the project with P&Z members.

Also at the January 19 session, P&Z members are slated to discuss and possibly act on a requested change of zone sought by a New Canaan developer, who wants to build a 56-unit age-restricted condo complex at the Alberts Hill Road site of the former Cornerstone of Eagle Hill. The complex was a private drug/alcohol rehabilitation hospital that closed several years ago.

Developer Jack Dweck, doing business as Pine Crest Estates, Inc, is seeking to rezone the 20-acre property at 32 Alberts Hill Road from R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing).

Nearby property owners have mounted strong opposition to the condo proposal, charging that redeveloping the site with 56 dwellings would be unwise, creating a development density that is too high for that remote area, which does not have a public water supply or public sanitary sewers.

Project opponents have charged that such development would bring additional traffic to hazardous roads in the area, create environmental problems, damage property values, and deplete underground water supplies, plus adversely affect the area’s character.

The developer has responded that the proposed condo complex is a practical and realistic approach to redeveloping the former hospital property.

Obtaining a change of zone is a preliminary step toward developing the site with high-density multifamily construction.

Also, P&Z members are slated to discuss and possibly act on a proposal to construct 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 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.

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.

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.