Oak Ridge III—

Eden Hill Residents Want Split Rock Road Extended

By Andrew Gorosko

Eden Hill Road area residents who believe that the dead-end Split Rock Road should become a through-road, which would connect to the proposed 17-lot Oak Ridge III residential subdivision, have made their case for extending Split Rock Road to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

Those residents spoke at a February 5 P&Z public hearing that was held on the Oak Ridge III proposal. The applicants are Nick and Gino Vona, who operate a Fairfield-based mason contracting partnership, and also W.F. Brothers, LLC.

The applicants own the development site, which is a 79.3-acre parcel of former farmland at 46 Eden Hill Road, near the Easton town line. The proposal is the largest single-family house development project submitted for P&Z review during the past several years.

At a January 8 public hearing on Oak Ridge III, a group of Split Rock Road residents had urged P&Z members to keep that dead-end street from being converted into a through-road connecting to Oak Ridge III, as had been proposed by the applicants. Those residents argued that keeping Split Rock Road as a dead end would forestall increased traffic flow there, would protect their safety, and would preserve their properties’ values.

In a straw poll at that session, P&Z members agreed that the developers should redraw their subdivision plans to allow Split Rock Road to remain a dead-end street. Such a design would allow the developers to construct about 850 feet less roadway than initially proposed, while retaining the same number of building lots in Oak Ridge III.

But Eden Hill Road area residents who did not attend the January 8 P&Z hearing learned of the pending change in road construction plans and attended the February 5 session to register their protests.

In a petition submitted to the P&Z, they state that Eden Hill Road is a narrow and dangerous road that poses public safety issues. Converting Split Rock Road into a through-road would relieve traffic pressure on Eden Hill Road, they claim. Also, any additional traffic on Eden Hill Road created by the subdivision would hurt their property values and damage the road’s condition, they add.

Because the town possesses a right of way that would allow Split Rock Road to be extended, the road should be connected to the proposed subdivision, the petition signers say.

Fire Marshal

In a February 5 letter to the P&Z, Fire Marshal Bill Halstead and Dodgingtown fire officials urge that Split Rock Road become a through-road to provide better access to the area for emergency vehicles. Through-roads are better suited to firefighting situations than dead-end roads, making it simpler to use fire tanker trucks to fight fires, fire officials say. Dead-end roads make it difficult to turn around fire trucks, they add.

At the P&Z session, First Selectman Joe Borst urged that Split Rock Road be made a through-road as part of the subdivision project. Police, fire, and ambulance access to properties is an important public safety issue, Mr Borst said.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said the Oak Ridge III subdivision hearing would continue at a future session to provide the P&Z with time to receive town staff comments on legal issues, public health matters, and subdivision engineering.