The construction of an expanded sanitary sewer system in Hawleyville, the approval of two significant commercial projects in Newtown, and regulatory review of the largest residential project proposed for the Borough in many years were among local land use highlights in 2016.

In a $3.8 million project that started in June, workers installed lines for a low-pressure sanitary sewer system in Hawleyville to expand the original gravity-powered sewer system there that went into operation in 2001.

The expanded system will provide sewer service for a 180-unit rental apartment complex planned for construction off Covered Bridge Road, plus a planned church and a planned diner. The expanded system also provides sewer connections at currently undeveloped tracts near Exit 9 of Interstate 84, for which town officials have long sought economic development projects. By December, the sewer construction project was reported as being more than 98 percent complete.

Resident Peter Alagna, who formerly served as chairman of the agency now known as the Water & Sewer Authority, in May published a history of the town's central sewer system, describing its planning, design, and construction, as well as the policymaking and public participation aspects of the project. The central sewer system started operation in 1997.

In July, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approved construction of a 19,000-square-foot Tractor Supply store and adjacent fenced 15,000-square-foot display area at an 8.2-acre site at 116 South Main Street in the South Main Village Design District (SMVDD).

The P&Z's controversial November 2015 approval of various zoning rule changes, which had allowed the Tractor Supply proposal to proceed through the town's land use review process, drew a court appeal from an adjacent property owner which sought to block the commercial project. In October, however, a judge dismissed that lawsuit, clearing the way for construction. An 1810 house, which formerly served as an inn, and several outbuildings at the site will be demolished to make way for the project.

In October, the P&Z approved plans for a 12,000-square-foot retail center at 75 Church Hill Road, across that street from the Blue Colony Diner. The retail center, which was approved under the terms of the Exit 10 Commercial Design District (CDD) zoning regulations, will include a coffee shop with drive-through window service. Until the CDD zoning rules were created by the P&Z at the request of the project's developer in November 2015, drive-through window service for restaurants had not been allowed in town.

The retail project is planned in conjunction with the state's plans to move the southern end of Edmond Road westward to create a signalized four-way intersection of Church Hill Road, Edmond Road, and Commerce Road. That intersection change is planned to improve traffic safety in that section of town, which has the highest local traffic accident rate.

In May, Rochambeau Woods, a controversial proposed 29-unit condominium complex comprised of 29 individual buildings at a 29-acre site at 41, 43, 45 and 47 Mt Pleasant Road, near Taunton Lake, received a wetlands/watercourses protection permit from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC).

Late in the year, the Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) held two public hearings on the proposal, which drew criticism from nearby property owners, who charged that the complex's presence would cause various problems in the neighborhood, involving traffic, noise, decreased property values, and the prospect of raucous parties occurring near Taunton Lake.

The BZC is expected to act on that development proposal in early 2017.

In 2003, the BZC created Village District (VD) zoning for sections of Church Hill Road and Queen Street. VD zoning involves the regulation of the general aesthetics of structures, as viewed from the street.

In September, the BZC expanded its VD zoning regulations to have that existing overlay zone include Main Street as well as the section of South Main Street that lies in the borough. VD zoning also was approved for the section of Church Hill Road lying between its intersections with Main Street and with Wendover Road.

Although relatively small in scale, a developer's proposal to create a six-house subdivision on 13.8 acres at the intersection of Platts Hill Road and Beaver Dam Road, which was formerly part of Cherry Grove Farm, drew criticism from nearby residents in November.

Those residents listed issues including traffic safety, decreased property values, construction density, a loss of privacy, the adverse alteration of a bucolic area, and a loss of horseback riding terrain as criticisms of the project. In December, P&Z members, however, decided that the proposal met the terms of the subdivision regulations and approved the project.

Also in December, the state completed a major renovation of Silver Bridge, costing $4.47 million. The steel truss-arch span links Glen Road in Sandy Hook to River Road in Southbury, crossing the Lake Zoar section of the Housatonic River. The project began in mid-2015.

The bridge was built in 1936. The DOT last made major improvements to the span in 1986. It is listed on the Connecticut Historic Inventory and is eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

After lengthy discussion at an April public hearing, P&Z members unanimously approved a zoning rule change to allow The Farmers Market at Fairfield Hills to have "temporary food establishments," thus permitting vendors to sell various prepared foods there.

The farmers market sought that zoning rule change to boost attendance and spur business activity at the seasonal weekly market sessions. The revised regulations allow prepared food vendors to operate with a food truck or within a tent.