Tilson Defends His Subdivision Plan

By Andrew Gorosko

In response to criticism of his proposed 40-lot residential subdivision by the chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), developer Charles Tilson says his Tilson Woods project is a worthy one, which should be approved by the P&Z.

Mr Tilson of Tilson Financial, LLC said Monday, “All I’m trying to do is get the most out of the property I can.”

His long, narrow 61-acre Sandy Hook site proposed for new home development runs along the northern side of Interstate-84, eastward from Washington Avenue to Philo Curtis Road. The property is adjacent to the municipal Treadwell Park.

P&Z Chairman Daniel Fogliano recently said the proposed Tilson Woods subdivision application is incomplete and does not warrant P&Z approval.

The Tilson Woods application illustrates the effect that the P&Z’s revised, tougher aquifer protection regulations will have on properties, such as the Tilson Woods site, which lie in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD) atop the Pootatuck Aquifer, the town’s sole source aquifer.

“They don’t like the fact that I beat the deadline,” Mr Tilson said, suggesting that P&Z members are unhappy he submitted his development application for the land just before the town’s revised, tougher aquifer protection regulations took effect last June, thus allowing his application to be considered under the town’s old, less stringent aquifer protection rules. Under the revised, stricter regulations, Tilson Financial would be able to apply for only about 20 house lots on the site.

“I just don’t think it’s right that they’ve changed these zones,” Mr Tilson said. “My family has been here for a long time,” he said, noting the Tilson clan has lived in Newtown for about 200 years.

Mr Tilson said he has been working with the P&Z for a long time in seeking to meet its requirements for the proposed Tilson Woods. Only a few aspects of the application need reworking to meet town requirements, he said. “It’s just little, tiny roadwork stuff,” he said of the requirements that remain to be met for a subdivision approval. “Basically, everything’s okay,” Mr Tilson said.

Mr Tilson, who has been building homes in the area for more than a decade, said that in order to satisfy town land use officials’ development concerns, he cut the original development proposal from 42 to 40 lots.

Mr Tilson said the development would include house lots valued at between $110,000 and $125,000. The sale price of a house would range from $350,000 to $400,000, depending on the level of detail in the construction, he said.

If he were to lose 20 lots of what could potentially be a 40-lot subdivision, it would have a significant financial impact, Mr Tilson said.

At a February 3 P&Z meeting, which Mr Tilson did not attend, P&Z members discussed the Tilson Woods proposal. Mr Fogliano criticized the development plan on several counts, stressing that the project’s plans are incomplete. Approving the application would require the P&Z to place numerous cumbersome stipulations on it, posing practical problems in enforcing the zoning regulations in the property’s development, he said. Mr Fogliano told other P&Z members it would be unwise to approve development plans that require so much revision.

William Hennessey, a Stamford lawyer who represents Mr Tilson in the Tilson Woods application, said, “This application ought to be approved, based on the modifications that have been made at the request of the commission.” The applicant has addressed each of the concerns raised by the P&Z, he said.

Any remaining development issues are minor ones which can be addressed in stipulations, which the P&Z would place on an approval, he said.

Mr Hennessey said he believed the P&Z was pleased with Mr Tilson’s December proposal to build a public soccer field adjacent to Treadwell Park as part of the Tilson Woods project. “The soccer field is a real plus,” he said. The applicant modified the parcel’s proposed open space area to satisfy the P&Z, Mr Hennessey added.

“This is a good subdivision. There’s no [public] opposition to it,” the lawyer said. “The Conservation Commission is happy with this application. We have a [wetlands] permit,” he said.

Besides creating a soccer field on the land, Mr Tilson had proposed creating a cross-country running course for public use. Town recreation officials, however, questioned the value of such a course, noting it would cross many streets. Mr Tilson now, instead, proposes a creating a trail to be used as a walking path.

At the February 3 P&Z session, Mr Fogliano said, “I think the best thing to do with this [application] is to deny it… I’m uncomfortable with approving an application that’s so incomplete.” Aspects of the application were “rushed” by the developer to beat the deadline for the revised aquifer regulations, Mr Fogliano said. “It needs a lot of fine tuning,” he added.

Tilson Financial, LLC, simultaneously applied to the P&Z and the Conservation Commission for Tilson Woods last June, just before the revised aquifer regulations took effect.

“I feel that we gave them [the applicants] more than ample time and opportunity to make it a good application,” Mr Fogliano said February 3.

P&Z members are expected to act on the Tilson Woods application at a March 2 session.