Vessel Oakview Road Proposal A Risky Unsafe Project
To The Editor:
From the start, 8-30g has been the focus of Vessel Technology’s proposed two building 136-unit apartment project on Oakview. Planning & Zoning should review this proposal against Newtown’s zoning and POCD then decide if the deficiency merits the risk of a court challenge. I believe that Vessel’s unconventional, untested hi-tech proposal that tramples Newtown zoning and POCD; which, because of the proposed role of Oakview Road, recklessly exacerbates a decades old-safety problem.
Vessel is a venture funded high-tech start-up addressing serious housing issues facing Connecticut and the nation. Kudos for that. However Vessel has nine projects in Connecticut. None have completed to occupancy. Their proprietary technology, unquestioned in this process, is untested. HVAC in the units are to be controlled by a phone app. What electronic tech do we carry with us today that is over a decade old, let alone the 30 year life of the proposal? Not something P&Z can probe? A loop-hole Vessel is exploiting.
The Traffic Study, which found “Overall, the safety assessment identified no deficiencies” is another loop-hole Vessel is exploiting.
Traffic Studies address vehicle congestion, wait time at intersections, not safety. In the dozens and dozens of pages of drawings, text, and tables, Solli’s addressed safety in 135 words. Time and again Newtown Police Commission has acknowledged that Oakview Road is unsafe. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Green Book calls for 12 foot wide lanes, with leeway for 10 foot lanes. Oakview is barely 10 feet and in a number of places less than that. Adding embankments and hills limiting sight lines and it doesn’t take an engineering degree to know Oakview is unsafe. In the context of Traffic Studies, safety assessments use police records accident reports or fatalities as proxies of safety.
Oakview is so short with such a low volume traffic, that these historic statistics are not reflective of the inherent safety of the road. Vessel’s proposed access drives to the two buildings from Oakview Rd alone should deny the proposal as unsafe.
The site is isolating. No sidewalks, no outdoor area for residents, no bike lanes on any of the adjacent roads, no public transportation, and no shuttle bus. Automobiles are the only access. The world is trying to reduce emissions, but Vessel is only proposing “future EV charging stations.” What’s worse this isolation will generate pedestrian traffic onto dangerous roads.
Newtown needs a broader mix of housing. Vessel may be part of the solution, but high-density housing off Oakview Road is unsafe and should be rejected. It’s so unsafe and impractical that I am confident a judge would uphold this safety issue.
Ned Simpson
Sandy Hook
An 8-30g project can be denied only on very narrow grounds – i.e., if it presents health, safety or other concerns that exceed a town’s need for affordable housing.
“projects cannot be rejected for incompatibility with a Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD); density; traffic congestion; height; aesthetics; concerns of neighbors or the community; and failure to comply with local zoning regulations.”
8-30g proposals are rarely denied by planning and zoning officials because the burden of proof on appeal is on the town. Appeals are costly, but a municipality can be successful in a court case if it has sufficiently established that the concerns leading to denial are factual and substantive.