On Thursday, February 20, the Planning & Zoning Commission held a vote for the proposed development by Vessel Technologies at 4 Berkshire Road and 22 Oakview Road. The commissioners discussed the development briefly before taking a vote.

The plans detailed two apartment buildings that will consist of 114 one-bedroom, six two-bedroom, and 16 three-bedroom apartments. The buildings are “set-aside” developments under Connecticut general statute 8-30g, or affordable housing. The developer plans to set aside 30% of the apartments, or 41 units, for 40 years at 60-80% of the median income.

The commission then put the development to a vote. The vote failed in a 3-2 decision. Voting against the development were chair David Rosen, commissioner Barbara Manville, and alternate David Landau. Voting for the development were commissioners Roy Meadows and Greg Rich. Each commissioner gave their thoughts regarding the development, including safety concerns in regards to parking, sidewalks, and a current lack of public water due to Aquarion not issuing any will-serve letters right now.

The positive vote did not pass, so the commission then votes on the reasons behind the motion failing. The next vote was regarding the applicant not providing “proof of a functioning service connection to the public water utility, and therefore the commission finds there is significant impact to the protection of the public health and safety,” Manville read into the record.

In this vote, Landau, Manville, and Rosen voted “no.” Meadows and Rich voted “yes.”

Rob Sibley, director of Land Use, said, “That was for an affirmative vote for the denial,” meaning those who voted “no” found a significant impact on public safety due to the lack of public water. Those who voted “yes” did not find a significant impact on public health for the same reason.

Following this vote, the commission voted on the testimonies from Solli Engineering, the engineer on the development, and Steve Trinkaus, the intervenor on the development.

Sibley explained the commissioners are voting on whether or not Trinkaus proved to the commission if there is impact associated with the Pootatuck aquifer as an environmental aspect. In this vote, a positive vote means that Trinkaus did not prove there will be an environmental impact, and a negative vote means he did prove it.

There was a brief discussion regarding the intervenor’s presentation, and then a vote was held.

The motion carried, with Rich, Meadows, and Rosen voting yes, and Manville and Landau voting no.

Additional details will be provided in the full story in the February 28 edition of The Newtown Bee, and online on that same date.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.