DERBY – Members of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission rejected a subdivision application to build housing atop “Telescope Mountain” by a 7-0 vote Tuesday (Oct. 13).

The motion to deny the application essentially said the commission did not think the development was safe, at least not as proposed.

Background

Summit Hill, LLC proposed 34 new residential duplex houses and five single-family houses on just under 18 acres of woods at the end of Summit Street, according to documents submitted to the city for review.

The property is nicknamed “Telescope Mountain” because it overlooks the Housatonic River. 

The property is behind the Summit Commons condominium complex off Coon Hollow Road, and next to densely populated roads such as Smith and Mountain streets. The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cemetery borders the property to the north.

Neighbors opposed the development plans during two public hearings.

The Rejection

The property is marked by steep slopes and bedrock, which has been a cause of concern for city officials.

Commissioners said Tuesday that the amount of blasting and soil excavation to make the subdivision happen posed a threat to surrounding houses.

In a letter, commissioner Albert Misiewicz said the subdivision proposal would “impose extraordinary and prolonged burdens on the surrounding properties.”

He noted some 400,000 cubic yards of fill would be blasted and trucked from the site, essentially flattening the top of the hill.

That amount of work would require constant truck traffic over the course of three to four years, officials said.

Misiewicz said in his letter that the subdivision would require a truck to haul away fill from the site at a rate of one truck per minute.

Those trucks would use Summit Street, a narrow hill that meets Cherry Street.

“This work would introduce quarry-like activity in an established urban neighborhood,” Misiewicz wrote, noting Telescope Mountain is surrounded by about 150 houses within 500 feet of the subdivision’s property line.

Commissioners also expressed concern over access to the site, whether the steep slopes could hold once housing was built, and whether the site could handle stormwater without flooding neighboring properties.

Click here for a previous Valley Indy story where commissioners detailed their issues with the development application.

Reaction

The subdivision was proposed by Summit Hill, LLC and is connected to John J. Brennan Construction of Shelton.

Derby has previously rejected a zone text amendment that would have allowed clustered housing on the site while preserving open space, the developer’s lawyer, Dominick Thomas said.

Thomas said his client will appeal the commission’s decision, which means the matter will end up in front of a Superior Court judge.

Thomas previously said that the issues pointed out by the Derby commission were issues created by the City of Derby.

He noted the city would not allow the subdivision to connect to Coon Hollow Road, even though a condo complex on the road already does. 

He said that decision forced access to the site to the other side of the property, which the commission also didn’t like.

Opposition to development at Telescope Mountain has been bipartisan over the years. Mayor Joseph DiMartino, a Democrat, opposed this application, and he previously spoke against changing the zoning language of the property. He said the city welcomes residential development elsewhere, such as the downtown redevelopment zone.

When Anthony Staffieri, a Republican, was mayor, he opposed a water tank on the property, saying the amount of blasting was too intense for the densely populated neighborhod.