At its August 21 meeting, the Borough of Newtown Zoning Commission announced that a hearing on 20-60 Castle Hill Road will be opened at its next meeting on Wednesday, September 18.

Additionally, Borough Zoning has reserved its meetings on Wednesday, October 16, and Wednesday, November 20, as days for possible continuations of the hearing. All three meeting dates are set to be held at 7 pm in the Newtown Middle School Auditorium.

This is a chance for both opponents and proponents of the development to come out and let their voices be heard. It represents not only an opportunity for either the developer to get his proposed development approved or an opportunity for opponents to show why the development should be rejected, but is also a chance for the Borough Zoning Commission to negotiate with the developer and possibly find solutions that might not make all sides happy, but hopefully something all sides can live with.

As The Newtown Bee has previously stated, the ultimate decision is where it belongs, with the Borough Zoning Commission, which has been charged as the final arbiter of whether such a development belongs in the Borough of Newtown.

The Bee urges all who want to be heard to attend the meetings as there will be ample opportunity for public participation.

The controversial development has garnered interest all over town, including from Newtown Conservation Coalition, which was largely organized to oppose it.

The controversy surrounding the 117 acre cluster development on 40 acres of the 132 acre property largely centers on two concerns — the large amount of homes, and the presence of the Rochambeau Trail on the property, lying along Reservoir Road.

Developer George Trudell has said that he needs the road to be discontinued to develop the land the way his plans currently call for, leaving 85 acres near Taunton Lake as open space.

The homes will be built in a cluster using a specific town regulation, 4.05.1, which allows residential open space developments. The homes will be clustered in one area of the development to maximize the open space surrounding it and would be a “multi-generational” development with homes between 1,800 and over 3,000 square feet. There will be “large setbacks” around the homes from the surrounding roads.

The Board of Selectmen approved the discontinuation of Reservoir Road, which existed as both a trail and as a paper street, at a July meeting.

The four conditions placed on the property are:

The discontinuation of the road is conditioned on the Borough Zoning Commission’s approval of the site plan application;

On the development being built within five years of the approval of the site plan application;

On the inclusion of the discontinued portion of the road as part of the final Declaration of Conservation Restriction.

And on the conveyance of a mutually agreeable public easement to the Town of Newtown for pedestrian, bicycling, equestrian, and all other passive recreational uses (to exclude the use of motorized vehicles except as may be necessary by the Town or its designee to effectuate the purpose of the easement), and for municipal utility purposes.

Newtown Conservation Coalition founder Dave Ackert has sagely urged his fellow NCC members to “stick to the relevant regulations issues and concerns in your testimony,” as “general opinions and concerns will not be considered when making their decision.”

“It’s important to ask about, and make them think about, how the proposed development complies with section 4.04.2,” said Ackert.

Section 4.04.2 says, “It is the intent of these regulations to encourage, protect, enhance and perpetuate uses, structures and appurtenant vistas of historical value which represent or reflect elements of the Borough’s cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history.”

Go out and make your voices heard.