Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are continuing their long-running review of a major mixed-use complex proposed for a 42-acre site in Hawleyville, which would include a 180-unit rental apartment complex on 21 acres, a diner on four acres, and a church on 17 acres.

P&Z members on November 5 reviewed certain developmental details during dual public hearings on the complex, which is proposed by two developers for the site that lies south of the Exit 9 interchange of Interstate 84 and west of Hawleyville Road (State Route 25).

Following brief discussion, P&Z members closed the public hearing on the church. Grace Family Church Inc, proposes the church on Covered Bridge Road to replace its church about one mile away at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (US Route 6). P&Z members took no action on the church proposal.

The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC), which reviews the surface water pollution aspects of development applications, closed its public hearing on the church proposal on October 28. The IWC has not acted on the church proposal. 

Developer Anthony Lucera of Brookfield, doing business as Covered Bridge Newtown, LLC, proposes the apartment complex on Covered Bridge Road and proposes the diner at 13 Hawleyville Road.

At the P&Z’s November 5 hearing on the apartments/diner proposal, engineer Dainius Virbickas of Artel Engineering Group, representing Covered Bridge, told P&Z members that the applicant still has several issues to discuss with IWC members regarding the project.

At the October 28 IWC session, IWC members raised concerns about the large number of apartments proposed for the complex, the need to remove invasive plant species from the site, and the desirability of allowing a stand of trees to remain in place, rather than removing it, as has been proposed, among other environmental topics.

The IWC members’ concerns centered on the intensity of the proposed development. They suggested that the project’s impact on the terrain be softened. Mr Virbickas has told IWC members that he would discuss their concerns with the developer.

Mr Virbickas told P&Z members November 5 that that the project’s plans are being revised to keep development somewhat farther away from wetlands at the site than initially proposed. Also, design details on an emergency accessway for the apartment complex will be provided, he said.

P&Z member Rudolph Pozek urged that the developer install a traffic control signal at the intersection of Covered Bridge Road and Hawleyville Road to regulate traffic flow.

Traffic engineer Michael Galante of Frederick P. Clark Associates, representing the developer, said his firm has informed the state Department of Transportation (DOT) of the P&Z’s desire for a traffic signal. Mr Galante said he would soon submit a formal request for a traffic signal.

Mr Galante has told P&Z members that he does not expect the DOT to approve a traffic signal because the amount of traffic that would be generated by the mixed-use complex would not reach the minimum level required for installing a traffic signal.

The P&Z nevertheless has urged the submission of a traffic signal application to DOT.

Public Comment

During the public comment section of the P&Z hearing on the apartments/diner proposal, resident Theresa Curry of 4 Hillcrest Drive told P&Z members that she has lived at that address adjacent to the development site for the past 57 years.

Ms Curry said she wants the developer to install a privacy fence between her property and the site. “I’m not happy with this whole thing,” she said of the development proposal.

Janet McKeown of 10 Hillcrest Drive said the primary impact of the apartment complex would be the amount of traffic that it generates.

P&Z Chairman Robert Mulholland responded, “We’re all very concerned about traffic.”

Corinne Cox of 31 Pond Brook Road said that the existing covered bridge at Covered Bridge Road has historic value and should be preserved. She urged that the bridge be rebuilt to make it structurally sound. “I’m trying to save that covered bridge,” she said.

Mr Mulholland noted that the covered bridge over Pond Brook is in poor physical condition.

The developer plans to remove the bridge and to replace it with a larger, modern covered bridge that would carry traffic to and from the apartment complex.

Ms Cox said that the existing bridge could be improved to the point where it could handle pedestrian traffic. “That’s part of Newtown’s history,” she said.

Also, an old railroad bed at the site should not be disturbed as part of the project, she urged.

P&Z member Jim Swift said that the massive stone foundations for the existing covered bridge will remain intact.

Ms Cox, a Democrat, won a regular seat on the P&Z in the November 3 elections. Her four-year term starts on December 1.  

Mr Mulholland said the IWC is reviewing the environmental protection aspects of the project so that Pond Brook is protected from damage.

Pond Brook traverses the development site, carrying water from Taunton Lake to the Lake Lillinonah section of the Housatonic River. The brook runs parallel to Pond Brook Road before entering Lake Lillinonah.

Elmer Cox of 31 Pond Brook Road said, “I’ve been concerned about the size of this project since I heard about it.” The presence of the apartments would adversely affect the quality of life in Hawleyville, he said. Mr Cox urged that the number of apartments proposed for the complex be reduced.

The P&Z is charged with maintaining the local quality of life, Mr Cox said.

Mr Virbickas said he would respond to the various issues raised about the proposed development when the P&Z’s public hearing on the apartments/diner proposal resumes on November 19.

The IWC hearing on the apartments/diner proposal is scheduled to resume on November 18.

Under the terms of the Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) zoning regulations, 36 of the 180 apartments would be designated as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income individuals and families.

The high density of the development would be made possible by the presence of municipal sanitary sewers, which the town plans to install in the spring.