14-Lot Resubdivision—

Public Open Space Land Becomes

Central Issue For Residential Development

By Andrew Gorosko

Whether, and possibly where, a developer would provide public open space land in a proposed 14-lot residential resubdivision adjacent to Taunton Pond is shaping up as the central issue in developer Hunter Ridge, LLC’s, proposal for Rochambeau Woods, off Mt Pleasant Road.

Developers David and Carol French, doing business as Hunter Ridge, LLC, propose the project for 30 acres on the south side of Mt Pleasant Road, just west of the Taunton Lake Drive neighborhood. Two proposed building lots would have shore frontage on Taunton Pond, which lies downslope from Mt Pleasant Road.

A developer had received a subdivision approval for the site from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) in 1970, but the property was never developed. The proposal pending before the P&Z is a “resubdivision,” which would reconfigure that previous unbuilt subdivision.

The development site is in the borough, but because the borough has no planning agency, the P&Z reviews such applications. The site has R-1 zoning, which requires minimum one-acre lot sizes. Dakota Drive, a proposed 1,400-foot-long dead-end road, would extend southward onto the site from Mt Pleasant Road toward Taunton Pond.

Hunter Ridge, LLC, does not propose donating any public open space land for passive recreation because the application involves a “resubdivision” of a previous “subdivision,” and thus such a land donation is not required, according to engineer Larry Edwards, representing the developer. No open space was set aside on the property when the original subdivision was approved in 1970.

On June 16, P&Z members held a brief public hearing on the Rochambeau Woods application, which had been continued from a May 19 public hearing. Rochambeau Woods also is known as Hunter Ridge.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil said that attorney Robert Hall, who represents the developer, had requested a time extension on the application to allow the lawyer to complete legal research on the open space aspects of the project. The public hearing on Rochambeau Woods thus will resume at an upcoming P&Z session.

Open Space Sought

Mr O’Neil said attorney Robert Fuller, who represents the P&Z, has informed the agency that an open space donation will be required for Rochambeau Woods.

“It [open space] will be a critical issue,” Mr O’Neil said.

A subdivider typically donates open space land to the town or to a private land trust. The P&Z requires subdividers to donate at least 15 percent of the land area in a subdivision as open space, or to provide a fee in lieu of open space to the town. The town uses such fees to acquire open space elsewhere.

Mr O’Neil said that a 15 percent donation of open space in a 30-acre development, such as Rochambeau Woods, would amount to 4.5 acres set aside for passive forms of public recreation.

The town would like such open space land to have access to Taunton Pond, Mr O’Neil said.

Various issues involving open space will need to be resolved, he said.

In recently reviewing the development application, members of the town’s Open Space Task Force found that no open space had been donated as part of the 1970 subdivision, so the panel has recommended that the developer donate a proposed 3.2-acre building lot with frontage on Taunton Pond as open space land.

The other proposed building lot with pond frontage is 1.9 acres. Both of those proposed lots are “rear lots,” which would have driveways extending to them from the turnaround circle at the end of Dakota Drive.

In a June 15 letter to the P&Z, Linda Shepard, chairman of the Borough Zoning Commission, wrote, in part, “We would like to see open space provided for this subdivision, preferably close to [Taunton Pond].”

In a June 6 letter to the P&Z, George Benson, the town’s land use enforcement officer, wrote, in part, “The proposed [Rochambeau Woods] resubdivision has to comply with the current subdivision regulations that include the 15 percent [open] space provision.”

On June 16, Mr Hall told Mr O’Neil that he would be meeting with Mr French and Mr Edwards to discuss the overall plans for the resubdivision, and to consider the concept of providing open space as part of the project.

Mr O’Neil pointed out that the P&Z’s and developer’s divergent views over the need to provide open space as part of Rochambeau Woods could result in a court appeal.

Mr Hall said his initial legal research indicates that the original subdivider in 1970 sought 18 building lots on the site. At that time, the P&Z customarily sought the donation of one acre of open space land for every 25 building lots on a development site, he added. In practical terms, because the 1970 subdivision proposal involved fewer than 25 building lots, no open space donation was required, he said.

Other Issues

Also at issue in the development application is the location of the intersection of Dakota Drive and Mt Pleasant Road.

Where that intersection is built would hinge on providing adequate westward sightlines on Mt Pleasant Road for motorists exiting Dakota Drive, as well as on preventing nighttime vehicle headlamp nuisances for people living on the north side of Mt Pleasant Road.

Rochambeau Woods would be served by the United Water public water supply system, and also would have fire hydrant service. Each house would have an individual septic waste disposal system.

The developer has received a wetlands permit from the Conservation Commission, serving as the town’s wetlands agency. That permit, which was issued in July 2002, contains many restrictions on how the site can be developed.

The Conservation Commission reviewed the project in terms of road construction; the proximity of wetlands to houses and to septic systems; and the discharge of stormwater into a wetland. A stormwater control basin would be located near Dakota Drive’s turnaround circle to regulate the stormwater drainage flow into Taunton Pond.

In early 2001, Ginsburg Development Corporation Connecticut, LLC, had proposed building 110 condominiums for people over age 55 at the Mt Pleasant Road site now eyed for Rochambeau Woods.

But in May 2001, citing strong neighborhood opposition to its condo construction proposal, plus uncertainty about the availability of municipal sewer service for the project, Ginsburg dropped its proposal to build there. Ginsburg is currently constructing a 96-unit age-restricted condo complex several miles to the west on a 40-acre site at 178 Mt Pleasant Road, known as Liberty at Newtown.