Edona Commons—

WSA Rejects Sewering Request For Proposed

Condo Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Following lengthy review, Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) members have rejected a Danbury developer’s application for sanitary sewer service for his controversial proposed 26-unit mixed-income condominium complex on Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook Center.

On September 20, WSA members unanimously voted to deny a sewer connection application from Dauti Construction, LLC, of Danbury for the proposed Edona Commons at 95-99 Church Hill Road, near Dayton Street.

WSA members decided to turn down the sewering application because it fails to meet WSA regulations concerning the classes of properties that are eligible to use the central sewer system’s remaining sewage treatment capacity. Sewer mains run alongside Church Hill Road adjacent to the 4.5-acre development site.

At the September 20 WSA session, attorney Ryan McKain, representing the developer, sought to convince WSA members that the Edona Commons project was eligible for a sewer connection, but the WSA members were not convinced.

Mr McKain argued that the compelling reason to provide sewer service for the proposed condo complex is that it would provide “affordable housing” for the community.

According to WSA records, Town Attorney David Grogins said that the WSA is within its rights to deny the Dauti sewering application based on the provisions of the WSA’s sewering regulations.

WSA members then unanimously denied Dauti’s request for a sewer connection for Edona Commons.

The developer has a court appeal pending against the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) over its April 5 rejection of the 26-unit Edona Commons proposal.

That rejection marked the fourth time since 2003 that the P&Z had turned down various multifamily development proposals for the site from the developer. The pending court appeal may be resolved by mid-2008.

In August 2006, the developer filed an appeal in Danbury Superior Court seeking to overturn a July 2006 WSA decision, which effectively denied a sewer connection for an earlier 23-unit version of Edona Commons. The developer withdrew that lawsuit against the WSA last April.

Developer Guri Dauti proposes the construction of six multifamily buildings on the steep, rugged site. The proposed condo complex would discharge an estimated 5,525 gallons of sewage daily into the sewer system, based upon an estimated discharge rate of 212.5 gallons of sewage per condo unit.

Mr Dauti’s continuing efforts to develop the site with multifamily housing have encountered stiff opposition from nearby property owners. They charge that the site is an inappropriate place for such construction that would overdevelop the property and generate excess traffic in a congested area.

In the 26-unit condo complex proposal that was rejected by the P&Z last April, Mr Dauti applied for the project under the terms of the state’s Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals Act.

Under that law, applicants for affordable housing projects, which are later rejected by municipal land use agencies, gain certain legal leverage in getting those projects approved through court appeals. Under that law, only public health issues and public safety issues are considered to be justifiable reasons for a land use agency to reject an affordable housing project.

In its April decision to reject Edona Commons, P&Z members found that the interests for protecting the public health and safety outweighed the need for the eight “affordable housing” units that would be part of the 26-unit complex. Those eight condos would be set aside for purchase by low-income and moderate-income families. The sale prices of market-rate units in such high-density complexes subsidize the sale of lower-priced affordable housing units.

A major flaw in the 26-unit Edona Commons proposal was the applicant’s failure to describe the means of sewage disposal at the site, according to the P&Z. Also, the applicant failed to ensure that adequate steps would be taken to protect the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer, which is a public water supply source, the P&Z decided.