P&Z Approves A Reconfiguration Of The Homesteads

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have approved a reconfiguration of The Homesteads at Newtown, an elderly housing complex on Mt Pleasant Road in Hawleyville.

P&Z members August 30 approved cutting 28 congregate housing units from the 160 congregate units that initially had been planned for the site. The change means The Homesteads retains a P&Z approval to construct 132 congregate housing units. None of these units have been built yet.

Also, the P&Z approved The Homesteads’ proposal to add eight condominium units to the 38 that have already been approved for the 60-acre property at 166 Mt Pleasant Road. The revision allows the Homesteads to build up to 46 condos.

Commenting on the plan revisions, P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano said, “The Homesteads at Newtown has always worked well with the [town] land use department.” The Homesteads developers realize that they must seek and obtain P&Z approvals before making changes to their plans, he noted.

Mr Fogliano said The Homesteads is a major local taxpayer and a good corporate citizen.

On that note, P&Z members approved the reconfiguration in a 5-to-0 vote. The changes leave The Homesteads with approvals for 278 housing units, compared with its initially approved 298 units.

By eliminating 28 units of congregate housing, the complex would omit 16 two-bedroom units and 12 one-bedroom units. In lieu of those 28 units, the developers plan to construct eight condos in two buildings on the site.

When reduced to 132 units, the congregate housing complex would be cut to 168,000 square feet in area. The congregate housing complex would thus contain 85 one-bedroom units, 40 two-bedroom units, and seven studio apartments.

In 1998, The Homesteads received town land use approvals to build a 100-unit assisted-living rental apartment building, 38 condominiums, and 160 congregate housing units, for a total of 298 units at a former sand-and-gravel mine near the Bethel town line.

Following its initial P&Z approval to construct the complex in September 1998, The Homesteads sought and received several ensuing P&Z approvals for plan revisions.

The 95,000-square-foot 100-unit assisted living complex opened last March. The condominiums are under construction. The condos are intended for people over 55.

Dr Morton Silberstein and his wife, Linda, developed the project.

Mrs Silberstein has said The Homesteads is seeking to modify the mixture of units at the complex in response to changing conditions in the elderly housing market.

When initially proposed in 1998, The Homesteads gained rapid approvals from town land use agencies, considering the broad scope of the plans. A group of residents living along Pocono Road, however, questioned the need for the complex to have an accessway linking the complex to Pocono Road. Those residents had the P&Z place certain restrictions on that accessway to ensure that it is only used for emergency access to the site.

The Homesteads construction project spurred the extension of sanitary sewers and a public water supply to Hawleyville. The presence of those two public utilities is expected to encourage additional development in the area.

Based on the grand list of October 1, 2000, The Homesteads is the town’s third largest taxpayer. The Homesteads property has a tax-assessed value of $10.29 million.