Walnut Tree Hill Road—

Developer Drops Proposal For Condo Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Toll Brothers, Inc, has withdrawn its controversial application for a change of zone for a 35-acre site off Walnut Tree Hill Road, where the company had proposed the construction of 104 age-restricted condominium units.

The company’s application withdrawal means that a Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing that had been scheduled on the application for January 20 is cancelled.

Toll Brothers had been seeking to rezone the 35 acres from R-1 (Residential) and R-2 (Residential) to EH-10 (Elderly Housing). Most of the site is currently zoned as R-1, with a strip of land located alongside Walnut Tree Hill Road zoned as R-2. R-1 zoning is designated for single-family houses on lots of at least one acre. R-2 zoning allows single-family houses on lots of at least two acres. EH-10 zoning is designated for high-density, multifamily housing for people over age 55.

The site’s street address is 79 Church Hill Road. The land is owned by Carmine Renzulli of Norwalk. 

Toll Brothers’ zone change application had met stiff opposition from Walnut Tree Hill Road area residents who voiced their objections to building such a complex in their neighborhood, citing its high construction density, and ensuing traffic concerns, as their principal complaints. The 35-acre site is located across Walnut Tree Hill Road from the 189-unit age-restricted Walnut Tree Village condo complex.

Also, First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal had said that the 35-acre site was not a suitable place for the project that Toll Brothers had proposed, citing traffic concerns about the heavily-traveled area.

Toll Brothers 104-unit proposal appeared to suffer a setback in December, when the town’s Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) rebuffed the firm’s request for a municipal sewer connection for the proposed condo complex. WSA members told Toll Brothers that the site is on land lying outside the town’s sewer service area for the central sewer system, and thus is not eligible for sanitary sewer service.

WSA members told Toll Brothers that if the P&Z were to approve a zone change for the site, the WSA would consider allowing Toll Brothers to build a large-scale septic system to serve the complex. Such a waste disposal arrangement, however, would mean that many fewer condos could be constructed on the site, possibly as few as 34 dwellings.

A Toll Brothers spokesman was not available for comment before deadline.

Although Toll Brothers has dropped plans for the Walnut Tree Hill Road site, the firm is still seeking town approvals to build 60 age-restricted condos on a 51-acre site at 21 Oakview Road, near Newtown High School. P&Z members are expected to act soon on the firm’s request for a change of zone from R-2 to EH-10 as a preliminary requirement for such a complex.