80 Units —

WPCA Would Provide Sewers For Condo Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

In a carefully worded statement, the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) has informed a developer that if it gains the required town land-use approvals for an 80-unit, age-restricted condominium complex proposed for Oakview Road, the WPCA would be willing to provide municipal sewer service for that complex.

WPCA members met with representatives of Toll Brothers, Inc, on March 25 to discuss the firm’s request to discharge wastewater from its proposed 80-unit condo complex at 21-23 Oakview Road into the town’s central sewer system. The 52-acre site lies between Oakview Road and the Pootatuck River, near Newtown High School.

While pursuing WPCA approval for a condo sewer connection, the developer simultaneously is seeking Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approval to change the zoning designation for the site from R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing). EH-10 housing is limited to residents over age 55. That P&Z application is pending.

At a recent P&Z public hearing on the requested change of zone, Oakview Road residents raised concerns about the traffic consequences of an 80-unit condo complex on that narrow, winding road. Others raised concerns about the effect of such development in an environmentally sensitive area lying above the Pootatuck Aquifer in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD). The site is next to a mile-long, state-designated wild trout fishing area in the Pootatuck River. P&Z members are expected to act on the requested zone change by May 6.

Whether the condo complex proposal progresses through the town’s land-use review process would now appear to hinge whether the P&Z approves changing the site’s zoning designation from R-2 to EH-10.

Besides a sewer connection and a zone change, Toll Brothers also would need a special exception to the zoning regulations from the P&Z; a site development plan approval from the P&Z; a wetlands construction permit from the Conservation Commission, serving as the town’s inland wetlands agency; and an aquifer protection approval from the P&Z, based on an aquifer protection review conducted by the Conservation Commission.

Toll Brothers has already sought and received an endorsement for the condo project from the Economic Development Commission, a local advisory group. Condo prices would start at $425,000.

In the past, in connection with requests for municipal sewer service for other multifamily housing complexes, the WPCA has taken a similar tack, explaining to other town agencies that the WPCA would be willing to provide sewer service to such complexes, provided that the developer secures the various required town land-use approvals needed to build those complexes.

The 189-unit Walnut Tree Village age-restricted condo complex on Walnut Tree Hill Road is connected to the central sewer system, as is the 60-unit Meadowbrook Terrace Mobile Home Park on Sugar Street. The central sewer system, which started operation in 1997, was constructed to rectify environmental pollution caused by numerous failing septic systems. Its sewage treatment plant is on Commerce Road.

In Hawleyville, the 112-unit, age-restricted Homesteads at Newtown is linked to the Hawleyville sewer system, as will be the 96-unit, age-restricted Liberty at Newtown, which is now under construction. The Hawleyville sewer system, which started operation in 2001, was built to spur economic development in that area. Wastewater from that sewer system is discharged at the Danbury sewage treatment plant.

Treatment Capacity

On March 11, after having encountered WPCA reluctance to extend sewer service to the proposed 80-unit Oakview Road condo complex, Toll Brothers representatives said they would seek to buy sewage treatment capacity for the complex from the state.

The state and the town jointly use the Commerce Road sewage treatment plant. Two-thirds of the plant’s 932,000-gallon-per-day treatment capacity is designated for state use, with the remaining one-third of capacity reserved for town use. Garner Correctional Institution, a state high-security prison on Nunnawauk Road, is the prime state user of the sewage plant.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Toll Brothers, told WPCA members on March 25 that he contacted state Office of Policy and Management (OPM) officials, explaining that Toll Brothers wants to buy 20,000 gallons of sewage treatment capacity at the sewage plant.

Gregory Kamedulski, a Toll Brothers vice president, explained that the firm projects a requirement of 15,200 gallons of sewage treatment capacity for the proposed complex, but expects that such a development would only actually use about 10,000 gallons of daily capacity.

Mr Hall said that the state and the town would negotiate the possible transfer of state sewage treatment capacity for the proposed condos. Under such an arrangement, the state would transfer that treatment capacity to the town and the developer would then pay the town to use that capacity.

“We have the proposal on the table,” Mr Hall said. It is unclear how much money it would cost to buy the treatment capacity required for a condo complex, he said.

Also, it is unclear whether Toll Brothers’ ability to acquire state-owned sewage treatment capacity for its proposed condo complex would be the determining factor in whether the town agrees to extend sewer service to a complex, said Public Works Director Fred Hurley.

Guidance Letter

WPCA Chairman Richard Zang said March 25 that since the March 11 WPCA session, WPCA members had secured additional information concerning the Toll Brothers condo proposal.

Mr Zang then suggested that the WPCA submit a “guidance letter” to the other town agencies that would be reviewing other aspects of the development proposal.

WPCA members unanimously approved the letter. Voting in favor were Mr Zang, Jan Andras, Marianne Brown, Eleanor Mayer, Carl Zencey, and Philip Cruz. Member Alan Shepard did not attend the March 25 session. Mr Shepard had been particularly critical of Toll Brothers’ request for a condo sewer connection at the March 11 WPCA meeting.

In its carefully worded letter, the WPCA states that most of the 52-acre development site lies outside of the town’s central sewer district. Current zoning rules would not warrant an extension of sewer service to the property, the letter adds. The WPCA’s existing sewer facilities plan does not allocate any sewer system waste treatment capacity for new development, which lies outside of the sewer district, it states.

“Your request presumes that a zoning change to EH-10 will be approved by the town. The WPCA takes no position on the merits of such a [zoning] change,” the letter adds.

“However, if the town believes it is in its long-term best interest to approve a zoning change to EH-10, and to approve a number of units exceeding the limit for aquifer protection, such action will require an extension to the sewer service area. The WPCA will extend the sewer system to serve the approved [condo] project, but it reserves the right to limit the number of units served, based on an analysis of [soil] conditions,” the letter states.

Thus, if Toll Brothers gains P&Z approval for a zone change for the development site from R-2 to EH-10 zoning, the development proposal would then progress to the design stage for added town approvals, with the developer knowing that the WPCA would be willing provide sewer service to a condo complex.

Mr Hall said he perceives the WPCA guidance letter to be positive in tone, adding that he hopes P&Z members view the letter in that light.

“The next big step is for the P&Z to look at this [letter] affirmatively, as you’re intending it, and grant the change of zone,” Mr Hall told WPCA members.