The applicant for a proposed major mixed-use complex at a 35-acre site at 79 Church Hill Road is scheduled to present its request for municipal sanitary sewer service for the project at a Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) meeting scheduled for 7 pm on Thursday, March 8, at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street.

WSA normally meets at the sewage treatment plant office building, but due to expected heavy attendance, WSA has relocated this meeting to the more spacious lower level conference room at Town Hall South.

Developer 79 Church Hill Road, LLC's, controversial proposed Hunters Ridge project has drawn much attention, attracting approximately 150 people to a recent Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing, at which many people spoke in opposition to the project.

Fred Hurley, town public works director, said this week that public comments will be allowed at the March 8 session.

The applicant wants to construct 224 rental apartments in six buildings at the site. The complex would include 179 units of market-rate housing and 45 units of affordable housing.

The affordable housing would be offered at significantly lower prices to people who meet certain income eligibility requirements. The town is under a state mandate to increase its stock of affordable housing.

Hunters Ridge also would include more than 55,000 square feet of commercial space in the form of two two-story buildings that contain retail uses, professional offices, and a 200-seat restaurant.

The project is being proposed under the terms of the town's Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) zoning regulations, which provide developers with the "incentive" of commercial development, provided that 20 percent of the dwellings constructed at a mixed-use complex are designated as affordable housing for at least 30 years.

Sewage Capacity

Sanitary sewer system statistics presented at a recent WSA meeting indicate that the town has much less unallocated sewage treatment capacity remaining at the Commerce Road sewage treatment plant than has been requested by 79 Church Hill Road, LLC.

In its application to the WSA for sewer service, 79 Church Hill Road, LLC, requests that the town provide 44,288 gallons of daily sewage treatment capacity for the proposed complex. However, statistics presented to the WSA by Mr Hurley indicate that the town's remaining unallocated sewage treatment capacity is 33,950 gallons per day.

The sewage treatment plant at 24 Commerce Road is rated to process up to 932,000 gallons of wastewater daily. Of that amount, the town has access to 332,000 gallons of sewage treatment capacity, Fairfield Hills has access to 100,000 gallons, and the state has access to 500,000 gallons.

Of the town's 332,000-gallon daily limit, 262,000 gallons represents existing metered sewage flow; 26,090 gallons reflects allocated flow that is not yet being used; and 9,960 gallons represents an "environmental buffer" or reserve capacity to be used for unforeseen problems, according to Mr Hurley.

The gallonage statistics are part of a set of proposed modifications to the town's Water Pollution Control Plan. The seven-member WSA may leave the sewage gallonage statistics as currently listed or modify them.

In its application for sewer service, the developer asks the WSA for four approvals: 44,288 gallons per day of sewage treatment capacity; an expansion of the central sewer service district to include all 35 acres of the development site; an extension of sewer service to the expanded sewer service district; and some technical changes to the sewer regulations concerning the calculation of gallonage.

Currently, only about ten percent of the 35-acre lot at 79 Church Hill Road, which is nearest to Church Hill Road, is within the central sewer district. The requested approvals would allow the developer to extend sewers to the rear section of the property where the proposed apartment buildings would be constructed.

In view of changes that were made to the town's sewer regulations in 2015, the WSA is now required to refer to the Board of Selectmen any requests for expanding the sewer district. Thus, the selectmen are expected to discuss that request and make a recommendation to the WSA on the advisability of expanding the sewer district.

That topic will be on the agenda at the selectmen's meeting scheduled for 7:30 pm Monday, March 5, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street. The applicant is expected to make a presentation to the selectmen at that session.

The hilly, wooded site proposed for Hunters Ridge is bounded on the south by Church Hill Road, on the east by Walnut Tree Hill Road, on the north by seven residential properties along Evergreen Road, and on the west by the Exit 10 interchange for westbound Interstate 84. Four two-way driveways would provide access to the site via Walnut Tree Hill Road.

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