Sherman Street Development—

Attempts Underway To Preserve Scenic Views

By Kendra Bobowick

Marianne Brown is hoping to spare her neighborhood’s rural landscape from development.

Holding copies of applications for scenic road status that she submitted to Conservation Commission members August 11, Ms Brown of Sherman Street approached the table to say: “All neighbors except for one have signed the petition for a scenic road.” Her neighborhood is lined with split-rail fences, horse and cow pastures, and several farmhouses settled on fieldstone foundations. Currently she is working to complete a scenic road application for her street, and said that two other petitions may emerge — one for Still Hill and the other for Old Mill, which are around the corner from Sherman.

“We’d be happy to accept,” said commission member George Ferguson. He also warned Ms Brown that his commission does not have any regulatory authority regarding development proposals before the town, including the 38-lot subdivision on 158 acres near Sherman Street in Sandy Hook on which single-family houses would be built.

 The Conservation Commission is advisory only, he said, and looks at a “broader scope.” His primary concern? “Natural resources,” he said. “This will be on our agenda until we decide what — if any — action we can take.”

Commission member Mary Kaley asked, “Your intent … is to establish this as a scenic road? You want to preserve the frontage and vistas?”

Describing the old farmland as it appears today, Ms Brown described an image of country life. “Blue Herons fly across — over my house and into the pond,” she said. The birds live there, she said, adding, “So much wildlife will be displaced.”

Often walking with her children, she said the land as “so beautifully undisturbed.” She hopes that scenic status would limit new house placement, “to preserve the scenic nature … at one point, when the leaves are down, there is a view of the pond that shouldn’t be blocked,” she said in a separate interview. Also noting the beauty of “rolling hills” visible from her street, she said, “I don’t mind [new] houses,” but she does worry about “congestion.” Aware that the scenic status has its limitations, she is moving through the petition process.

Applying for scenic road status may not be the answer to averting new roads and houses from going up, however. Land Use Deputy Director Rob Sibley explained Monday that designation as a scenic road “doesn’t really affect development.” The status “can’t protect the vistas.” He said, “It may not be the best tool for protecting the rural character of our town. The best tool to protect the pastoral characteristics is our open space program.” Open space spares the land “in perpetuity.” Scenic roads only protect the roads “and the way they wind through town,” he said. “It keeps the road how it is — no alterations — if its got bumps, the bumps stay.”

A scenic road can be adopted on both a state and town level — accomplished locally through ordinance and town government approvals.

Offering a piece of background on what is now referred to as the Sherman Woods subdivision, Mr Ferguson explained, “It was a piece of property that we were interested in as open space.” A private developer purchased the land, however, and Mr Ferguson noted that attention now has shifted. “Our interest now is any impact on natural resources.” He hopes to “explore what, if anything, we have the power to do,” he said. “Chagrinned at the course of events,” Mr Ferguson said that as the development proposal moves forward in its permit and approval process with the town, “there may or may not be a resolution we can affect.”

The development proposal is now before the Inlands and Wetlands Commission. “We should have a decision in a few weeks or so,” Mr Sibley said. Even if the wetlands application is denied, he explained, “this does not preclude activity simply by rejecting the application.” While the denial may forestall the development plans for roads and new homes, the question will only be about the amount of disturbance.

Ms Brown fears that the proposed 38-lot subdivision will disturb the landscape. Currently tufts of golden rod, Queen Anne’s lace, bright purple thistle, and patches of grass and stone spread their colors across the ground. The area includes Still Hill Road — a turn off of Toddy Hill that runs into Old Mill, which is a gravel lane that leads to Route 34. Stretching also from Route 34, and passing Sugarloaf Road, is Sherman Street and that leads to Still Hill. The enclave caught between Toddy Hill and Route 34 and slated for development is — so far — an undisturbed and sloping New England field.

 

Background

Earlier this year, developer William H. Joyce of Shepard Hill Road proposed the construction of Sherman Woods, a 38-lot subdivision on 158 acres near Sherman Street in Sandy Hook. The scenic development site, which now contains wooded areas and open meadows, is in the town’s environmentally sensitive Aquifer Protection District (APD) above the Pootatuck Aquifer. The aquifer is the source of two public water supplies.

Basic plans for the project indicate that about 45.2 acres on the site would be reserved as undeveloped open space land. Two parcels would comprise that open space.

If the project gains wetlands/watercourses protection approval from the Inlands Wetlands Commission (IWC), it also would need subdivision approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z). The site has R-2 zoning, which requires building lots of at least two acres. IWC began its process in early June. During public hearing sessions, residents near the site raised concerns about environmental effects on their neighborhood. Storm water runoff, the Pootatuck Aquifer, and features including a pond were among topics raised.

In July, a town-sponsored engineering review of the Sherman Woods proposal found that in its current configuration, the project would pose a high probability of damage to wetlands and watercourses, especially in terms of long-term adverse effects on water quality and the shape of stream channels on the site.

By late July the developer revised plans for the project based on IWC’s technical review of the construction application. Revisions include reducing the extent of earthen cutting required to create some driveways, and reanalyzing the proposed subdivision’s drainage design and its storm-water controls with an eye toward making improvements.

By mid-August some IWC members urged the developer to rework plans to minimize adverse effects to the environmentally sensitive site. Another hearing is slated for August 26.