DERBY – UPDATE: The Valley Indy received word 10:30 a.m. Oct. 7 that the applicant connected to the public hearing described below has withdrawn the application. The Wednesday hearing is now canceled. The application could be retooled and resubmitted at a later date. Click here for a separate story.
Original posts follows:
A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8 on a proposal to connect Coon Hollow Road to a potential subdivision atop the area nicknamed “Telescope Mountain” in west Derby.
The hearing is scheduled in front of the Derby Inland Wetlands Agency. The meeting will be held in person on the second floor of Derby City Hall, but the public can also watch and participate using the Zoom teleconferencing app. Click here for the meeting agenda and Zoom information.
Summit Hill LLC owns about 18 acres of undeveloped land off Summit and Mountain streets. The company wants to build 25 duplexes and eight single-family houses on the land.
The public hearing Oct. 8 is not on the development application itself. Rather, the public hearing is about the potential disturbance to existing wetland and water courses the construction could bring.
The documents filed with inland wetlands contain a seven-page letter from a Derby consulting agency raising questions about the negative impact the development will have on wetland. The letter also raises a number of questions regarding the developer’s stormwater management plan.
“Based on the foregoing comments, it is our opinion that this application is deficient and not in a position for approval by the Commission,” the letter, written by Ryan McEvoy of SLR International Group, concludes.
According to the letter, the plans call for access roads to be built in two locations: one connecting to Summit Street, and a second connecting to Coon Hollow Road via Mistyvale Lane, a private road that serves as the entrance to the Summit Commons Condominiums.
The access road to Coon Hollow Road would also have to pass over city-owned land, according to the letter. McEvoy questions whether the developer has the legal rights needed to build the road over city property and to connect to Mistyvale Lane.
Dominick Thomas is the lawyer representing Summit Hill LLC in front of the Derby Inland Wetlands Agency. He will have the opportunity to address McEvoy’s letter during the public hearing and submit a response from the development team.
The developer’s consultants previously submitted documentation saying the project can be built so that there is no major disturbance to the wetland.
Neighbors – and at least two Derby mayors – have opposed past proposals for development at the property. Summit and Mountain streets are steep hills home to densely-populated neighborhoods. Neighbors have come to meetings previously to express concerns about dynamite blasting and fill removal needed to make the hill, rocky land suitable for development.
Neighbors have urged the city to find state grant money to buy the land and preserve it as open space.
Most of the land in question is zoned “R-5,” which allows for single-family and two-family dwellings. About 2.8 acres is zoned “P,” which allows public and semi-public uses ranging from nursing homes to public parks.
The area was nicknamed ‘Telescope Mountain’ by previous Derby generations, who named it so because of the land’s high vantage point allowing views of the nearby Housatonic River. It was once a popular informal hangout spot for kids and teens.
In general terms, a public hearing is the chance for the public to weigh-in on a matter on the record in front of a governmental agency. Speakers are usually asked to give their name and address for the record, and to stick to the topic listed on the agenda.