Sanitary sewer system statistics presented at a February 8 meeting of the Water & Sewer Authority (WSA) indicate that the town has much less unallocated sewage treatment capacity remaining at the Commerce Road sewage treatment plant than has been requested by a development firm seeking to construct a major mixed-use complex known as Hunters Ridge at a 35-acre site at 79 Church Hill Road.The Bee,Also, the Planning and Zoning Commission on the night of February 15, after the deadline for the February 16 print edition of 

In its February 2 application to the WSA for sewer service, developer 79 Church Hill Road, LLC, requests that the town provide 44,288 gallons of daily sewage treatment capacity for the proposed complex, which would include 224 rental apartments in six buildings, plus more than 55,000 square feet of commercial space that would include professional offices, retail businesses, and a 200-seat restaurant.

Town Public Works Director Fred Hurley presented statistics to WSA members which indicate that the town's remaining unallocated sewage treatment capacity is 33,950 gallons per day. Overall at the treatment plant, 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. The 24 Commerce Road facility is rated to cleanse 932,000 gallons of sewage daily.

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, which is scheduled for a WSA public hearing and action on March 9. The seven-member WSA may leave the sewage gallonage statistics as listed in the statistics or modify them. Five of the seven WSA members attended the February 8 WSA session.

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 sewer 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 certain 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. The selectmen would discuss that request and make a recommendation to the WSA on the advisability of doing so.

Thus, the WSA's request for the selectmen's recommendation will be on the agenda at the selectmen's meeting scheduled for 7:30 pm on Tuesday, February 20, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

Asked to comment on 79 Church Hill Road's pending sewer application, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said on February 14, "Naturally, I have questions relative to the idea of expanding the sewer district, given it was originally constructed for environmental mitigation purposes and not to support future development."

'I am reserving judgement until I have an opportunity to review the [WSA] referral and informational material from WSA," the first selectman added.

If the Hunters Ridge application should gain approvals from various town boards that are reviewing its development proposal, the firm would then seek approval for a road work agreement from the selectmen stating what improvements the developer would make to town roads due to the presence of the mixed-use complex.

The developer's request for a wetlands/watercourses protection permit was listed as a subject on the agenda at the February 14 Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) public hearing. (See related story.)

 was scheduled to hold three public hearings on 79 Church Hill Road, LLC's, requests for: a change of zone; a special zoning permit; and some zoning regulation changes concerning building setback distances and parking requirements.

Because the Hunters Ridge project is proposed under the terms of the Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) zoning regulations, the project would include some affordable housing. Those zoning rules, which the P&Z created in 2015, require that at least 20 percent of the multifamily units in a complex, whether they are rental apartments or condominiums, be rented out or sold at significantly lower prices than market rate units. In the case of Hunters Ridge, the complex would hold 179 market-rate dwellings and 45 affordable units.

Applicable rules require that affordable units be designated as affordable dwellings for at least 30 years. An income eligibility formula is employed to determine who qualifies to occupy affordable housing. The high construction density of such complexes results in the many rents paid for market-rate units, in effect, subsidizing the rents for the affordable units.

The "incentive" in the Incentive Housing zoning regulations is allowing developers to have a commercial component in a complex that contains affordable housing. Such a commercial component, however, is not required.

 

The rolling, 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.