Developer Proposes Ten Houses For Former Mine/Junkyard Site

By Andrew Gorosko

A local developer/builder is proposing the construction of ten single-family houses at the site of a former sand-and-gravel mine and junkyard, off Philo Curtis Road in Sandy Hook, near the Exit 11 interchange of Interstate 84.

The development proposal from George Trudell, doing business as GLT Residential, LLC, was the subject of a December 2 Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing. Mr Trudell has a contract to purchase the site, which has a street address of 29 Berkshire Road (Route 34). The development proposal is known as Quail Hollow.

Access to the site would be provided by a 925-foot-long dead-end street known as Quail Hollow Lane, which would extend into the property from the west side of Philo Curtis Road. The 29-acre site lies across Philo Curtis Road from Elana Lane. Access to one of the ten houses in the proposed subdivision would be provided from the nearby Bishop Circle.

The development site has a controversial past.

In September 1996, a team of developers proposed Newtown Village, a 96-house complex, including 24 “affordable” houses, for 32 acres there. That development proposal gained Conservation Commission approval for a wetlands-related construction work, but was rejected by the P&Z in November 1997 for a variety of reasons, including a risk of aquifer contamination posed by the complex’s presence. The Newtown Village proposal had drawn heavy opposition from nearby residents.

Besides concerns about Pootatuck Aquifer water quality, P&Z members had said that the 96-unit Newtown Village project would worsen existing traffic congestion problems on Route 34. The developer had proposed access to the site from Route 34. Also, P&Z members had objected to the developer’s plans to run a sand-and-gravel mining operation on the site before dwellings would be built there.

The developer appealed the P&Z’s 1997 rejection in court. In March 1999, a judge upheld the P&Z’s rejection of the high-density condominium complex, ruling that the protection of water quality in the Pootatuck Aquifer overrode the need for affordable housing. The developers had proposed building a small-scale sewer system on the site to dispose of wastewater.

Current Proposal

Unlike the past proposal for the 96-dwelling Newtown Village, the current proposal calls for only ten houses, provides access to the site from Philo Curtis Road, would only regrade existing earthen material on the site and not conduct a mining operation there before home construction starts. The project would require topsoil to be brought to the site to create a suitable base for plantings, such as turf, shrubs, and trees in the now-sandy and largely sterile environment.

In a similar conversion of a former sand-and-gravel mine into a residential subdivision, in March 2002 the P&Z approved a 20-lot residential subdivision off Toddy Hill Road, in a mined-out former Newtown Sand & Gravel quarry. That project, which is now built, is known as Quarry Ridge Estates.

Engineer David Bjorklund, representing Mr Trudell at the December 2 P&Z public hearing, told P&Z members that the site is lower in elevation than the adjacent Exit 11 on-ramp for eastbound Interstate 84. The property has R-2 zoning, which requires at least two acres for the construction of a single-family house. Proposed lots on the site would range from two acres to 4.7 acres.

Developing the former surface mine with ten new homes would be a two-phased project, Mr Bjorklund said. Initial work would include extensive regrading to eliminate extremely steep slopes on the property in order to create suitable locations for home construction, Mr Bjorklund said. No earthen material would be removed from the site; 54,000 cubic yards of earthen material now there would be regraded there, he said. Some slopes would be regraded to a 3-to-1 slope ratio, representing a 33-percent grade, he said.

Such extensive regrading would be done for the sake of safety and for aesthetic reasons, he said.

The developer has reached an agreement with the Conservation Commission concerning areas on the site near wetlands that are off-limits to development, Mr Bjorklund said. The developer had filed a court appeal of a Conservation Commission decision concerning the development proposal. That legal challenge was later settled through mediation.

Because the basin-shaped property does not hold land suitable as open space for passive recreation, the developer proposes donating a fee in lieu of open space to the town for future open space acquisition elsewhere.

An appraisal performed for the developer has put the site’s market value at $780,000, so the developer would contribute one tenth of that, or $78,000, to the town as a fee in lieu of open space, said attorney Robert Hall, representing the developer. Ten-percent increments of that $78,000 fee, or $7,800 payments, would be given to the town as the individual building lots are sold at the site, he said.

Considering the site was formerly mined out for its sand and gravel and that existing vegetation there would be removed in order to regrade the sandy slopes, P&Z Chairman William O’Neil observed that the property to be developed “would look like the surface of the moon.”

Mr Trudell said he would save whatever vegetation possible on the site during its development. Trees would be left standing on the property in areas adjacent to home sites, he said. Pine trees, flowering trees, and hardwoods would be planted, he added.

“It is a difficult site,” he said, adding that topsoil would be brought to the property to establish a base for new vegetation. The property “is not a wonderful, wooded site,” but developing the site would improve it, he said. The unauthorized use of all-terrain vehicles on the property would stop when it is developed, he said.

Mr Trudell told P&Z members that his firm would subdivide and develop the property, as well as build the houses there.

Considering the property’s former use as a junkyard, extensive soil and subsurface water testing was done to test for potential contamination problems, Mr Trudell said.

Of the physically difficult conditions on the property, Mr Hall said, “It’s not going to be easily developed.”

“This is going to be a very pleasant neighborhood that’s going to be made out of something that’s right now, quite rough,” he said.

The property would not have been a suitable place for affordable housing as was proposed in the past Newtown Village project, he said.

Public Comment

William Brown of 9 Pole Bridge Road noted that the Quail Hollow site formerly was a junkyard, expressing concerns that the past dumping of spent automotive fluids there may have tainted underground water in the area. Mr Brown noted that the property is in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD).

The subdivision would be served by individual domestic water wells and septic waste disposal systems.

P&Z member Lilla Dean pointed out that the developer has had an aquifer impact assessment performed on the environmental aspects of the project, as was required by the town.

In that review, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc, of Fairfield, concluded, “Our evaluation did not identify any significant impacts to groundwater quality or quality that will occur as a result of the development of the proposed Quail Hollow subdivision.”

Bradley Tefft of 7 Bishop Circle raised concerns about the dust, dirt, and noise that would be present in the area when construction of the subdivision is underway. Children live in the area where truck traffic would be occurring, he said.

Barbara Bloom of 25 Philo Curtis Road pointed out some inaccuracies in the subdivision mapping presented by the developer to the P&Z.

Ms Bloom said she is much happier with the prospect of ten single-family houses being built on the site than the 98 dwellings that were proposed for Newtown Village.

Ms Bloom said she would prefer that no houses be constructed on the site, but added that the development work would improve the landscape.

Henry LeMien of 9 Philo Curtis Road said that cutting down native trees on the development site would expose the neighborhood to the nearby I-84.

It is windy in the area, he noted, adding that there would be dusty conditions during construction.

Joanne Peck of 23 Philo Curtis Road said nuisance problems exist on the development site, such as the use of light motorcycles and alcohol parties.

“I’d love to see this [site] developed,” she said.

In response to the public comments, Mr Hall said that the mapping inaccuracies will be corrected.

Mr Trudell said that during construction, the site would be watered as needed to control flying dust.

Mr O’Neil asked whether past activities at the former junkyard caused soil contamination at the property.

Environmental testing done there indicates there is no contamination, Mr Trudell said.

The P&Z is expected to act on the Quail Hollow subdivision proposal at an upcoming session.