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EASTON - Philip DiGennaro, who owns 29.6 acres on South Park Avenue, will face an uphill battle in his quest to build a 74-unit residential complex in town. DiGennaro, the developer for Running Brook LLC, is seeking Planning & Zoning Commission approval of an application that would amend town zoning regulations to rezone the property by establishing a new Housing Opportunity District. The project meets the state definition of affordable housing, according to the plan, with 23 units sold below market value and 51 sold at market value. And 13 of the parcel's 29.6 acres would be preserved as open space. At a Planning & Zoning hearing held at the Helen Keller Middle School cafeteria Nov. 14, Matthew Ranelli, an attorney hired by the developer, said less than one percent of Easton's housing is affordable - far short of the state's goal of 10 percent for every municipality. "There is a need," Ranelli said. "The topography, access to the highway and facilities make this property ideal for this type of development." But there is growing public opposition to the plan from both Fairfield and Easton residents, and the Easton selectmen recently spoke of the possibility of taking the land by eminent domain, in order to stop the property's development. Neighbors of the proposed development, who are concerned over an increase in traffic and higher taxes needed to pay for more town services, would rather Running Brook Farm LLC stick to the current zoning, which allows houses on three acre lots, they told the P&Z. They also share the concerns of both an environmental group and Fairfield residents living near the property, that the dense 74-unit development will negatively impact the Mill River, which borders much of the property. More than 200 people attended the hearing, which was continued to Dec. 12. The plan will come before the Conservation Commission on Dec. 13. Environmental concerns The housing development would have "a community septic system," which would pump an estimated 22,800 gallons of waste per day. Some who spoke at the hearing worried that a system failure would prove to be an ecological disaster. Polly Edwards, a health officer with the Easton Department of Public Health, wrote a letter to Joseph Wettemann of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Water Management on Oct. 26, about his department's approval of a community septic system. She asked for locations of similar systems in Connecticut so her department could make field inspections. "We are assuming such systems have been time-tested and have proved themselves to your department," Edwards wrote. "We have no interest in being the guinea pig." Edwards said she still has not received a response from Wettemann. "I really haven't been given much help from DEP and that frightens me," she said. Bill Blaufuss, president of the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited, expressed concern over the potential for the development's negative impact on trout in Mill River. Water running to Mill River must remain cold to maintain the native brook trout habitat. Mill River is one of 10 state trout streams [one of the 9 Class 1 WTMAs]. "We're not saying trout would be extinct," Blaufuss said. "But this habitat where they can reproduce, would be." More opposition Patricia Zychek of Tersana Road lives within 500 feet of the property and has worked with neighbors to gather signatures in opposition of the affordable housing development. Zychek said she has seen "for sale" signs popping up in her neighborhood because of the uncertainty of what will be built on South Park. Others questioned DiGennaro's intentions in presenting a new plan for affordable housing, while his previous plan for 44 units of age-restricted condos on the same property was denied by the P&Z in December 2004. DiGennaro is appealing the decision in court. "Obviously he's doing this to pressure the town to approve what it turned down," State Sen. John McKinney said of the affordable housing plan. "With modular units he's making this as unattractive as possible." McKinney also criticized the monthly $500 land leasing fee that would be imposed on new homeowners as part of the plan. The result of leasing would be that the project's residents would just own the concrete slab their home is built on, while the developer would still own the property, he said. And though Ranelli said the HOD amendment was carefully written to pertain only to 18 and 22 South Park Avenue, the senator shares the concerns of others who believe it would be impossible to control similar developments elsewhere in Easton once the zoning is altered. Document related to the News
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