DERBY — A vote on whether to allow a housing subdivision atop ‘Telescope Mountain’ is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 13 in front of the city’s planning and zoning commission.

The commission is going to consider a motion to deny the application, according to statements made by members of the commission and their consultants at a meeting Tuesday (Sept. 15).

Commissioners said the plans submitted to the city were deficient, and that the amount of excavation required for the project would create a safety issue for neighbors.

“I also think that it was creating a public hazard to even get to that site,” said Derby Planning and Zoning Commission member Albert Misiewicz. “Just saying that they are going to come down a street like they were saying just seemed very unreasonable.”

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, saying the amount of blasting and trucks to clear away rock ledge for the houses would turn the property into a quarry for several years. 

In addition to rock ledge, the site has steep slopes.

Members of the planning and zoning commission said Derby land use rules call for preserving as much of the natural characteristics of the land as possible. The development proposal does not do that, commissioners said.

The city’s consulting engineer reported that, based on testimony from the developer’s representative, the project would include the removal of 400,000 cubic yards of excavation and 50,000 truck trips over five years.

During the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission meeting of Sept. 15, commissioners pointed out technical flaws in the development plans, such as an access road to the development that was not wide enough under the land use rules.

“The engineering work that was done on the plan was extremely deficient,” said commissioner Paul Denice.

At a public hearing Aug. 18, Dominick Thomas, the attorney representing the developer, said the plans were submitted in accordance to the city’s subdivision regulations. He said the developer previously proposed a zone text change that would have added “planned residential district” to the R-5 residential zone.

The PRD, Thomas said, would have given the city more control over how the property was developed. The zone text change was defeated in a 4-2 vote. 

Thomas said the issues being raised with roads such as Mountain Street originated from the City of Derby not allowing the development to access Coon Hollow Road. Click here to read a letter from Thomas written in August in response to some of the city’s comments. 

In 2013, the city, under Mayor Anthony Staffieri, opposed a water tower being built on the property, saying the construction was too intense for a residential zone. The tower ended up on public property next to the Derby High School/Middle school entrance on Chatfield Street.

Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Joseph DiMartino said he opposed the Telescope Mountain plans.

“I’m against it. It would be detrimental to the surrounding areas. They are talking about major, major blasting. There’s no question it will probably do damage to people’s foundations,” DiMartino said. The mayor also spoke in opposition to the PRD proposal in 2025. 

In an interview with The Valley Indy Wednesday, Thomas said if the commission rejects the application Oct. 13 an appeal to Superior Court in Milford is possible.

Thomas said the application was designed to be in compliance with Derby’s R-5 zone and that the subdivision application is considered a matter of right.

Thomas said the developer has done everything possible to minimize the impact on the land and the neighborhood, and stressed that the city denied access from Coon Hollow Road. That meant the access had to go to the other side of the property – which the city also doesn’t want, he said.

“We’ve taken every step to reduce the impact,” he said. Click here to read a memo from the developer’s architecture firm responding to Derby’s comments.

The members of the planning and zoning commission on Tuesday stopped short of rejecting the application. They said they wanted to give city hall staff some more time to review the voluminous application file. 

The commission is required by law to make a decision by Oct. 22. They scheduled a special meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 for a final decision.

Immediately after the meeting, The Valley Indy spoke to four neighbors who opposed the plans. They didn’t want to give their names, but said they were frustrated that a decision was pushed another month given all the negatives listed during Tuesday’s meeting.