The would-be developer of a subdivision off Ansonia’s Castle Lane that faced stiff opposition from neighbors before being rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2011 may soon return with a new development proposal for the land.
On Monday an engineer representing the owner of the 14-acre parcel between Gardners Lane, Castle Lane, and North Prospect Street showed the Planning and Zoning Commission preliminary plans showing two development “options” for the property — one with 10 homes and another with 15.
Monday’s presentation was listed on the commission’s agenda as an “informal discussion” — no application for the property has actually been submitted to the city.
But John Milone, president of Cheshire-based Milone & MacBroom, told commission members Monday he wanted to see what concerns or questions they had before the firm got down to putting together detailed plans.
They had plenty.
Background
A limited liability company controlled by Mark Romano, a Shelton resident, bought the land for $250,000 in November 2010, according to city land records.
The development was originally proposed to the PZC in August 2011.
The next month, about 50 residents of the neighborhood showed up at a public hearing on the proposal to raise worries about increased traffic, well usage, and safety concerns about developing the land, which features steep slopes at several places.
In November 2011, the PZC voted to deny the application.
The developer appealed, arguing waivers it sought — but didn’t receive — from the PZC would have resulted in improvements to traffic safety and less impervious road surface in the subdivision.
The developer also said the application should have been approved because it had submitted alternate plans that would have made the waivers it asked for unnecessary.
But the commission argued that the alternate plans were a “substantial deviation” from the application and would essentially be a new application altogether.
A judge at Milford Superior Court upheld the PZC’s decision last May.
Two Options
Milone told the PZC Monday that he had developed rough plans for two options to develop the land.
The first would extend Castle Lane, which begins in Seymour, through the property to Granite Terrace in Ansonia, and would see 15 homes built.
The second would see Castle Lane extended about 850 feet, with 10 homes built there and 5 to 6 acres of land at the western part of the property remaining open space.
PZC members didn’t express a preference for one option or the other, but brought up several questions and concerns they asked Milone to keep in mind in putting together plans.
Commission Chairman Bart Flaherty asked whether the lots would conform to the city’s requirements about building on land that slopes more than 25 percent, which had been a sticking point for the commission on the original application.
“We understand that regulation … and would conform to that regulation in every respect” when presenting an application, the engineer replied.
Commission member Michael Bettini raised concerns about child safety on the steep land, as well as the timing of construction and run-off from the lots.
Jared Heon, the commission’s vice chairman, noted that many of the homes in the area had wells, and wondered whether the project would involve blasting.
Romano said he had dug 10 test pits throughout the property and hadn’t hit any rock ledge, but he and Milone said they’d get more information while putting together a formal application.
Heon said water supply is another concern.
“That area is already in a special response district for the Fire Department. The closest hydrant is down by Elaine Drive and North Prospect Street,” he said, asking whether the developer would want to extend public water to the area or seek some other solution.
“Ideally, we would not extend water to here because there’s not a lot of development to support the cost,” Milone said, noting that in other developments his firm has been involved with, they’d addressed the problem by installing underground storage tanks.
Heon suggested asking the city’s fire marshal for input.
Several commission members also raised concerns about Castle Lane itself, saying it’s narrow and, if extended, would also be steep.
Flaherty wondered where snow would go in the event of a blizzard like last February’s.
“We haven’t got our head into how we’d solve all those problems yet. We understand that the engineering details will be critical here,” Milone said. “Hearing this is important because we’re hearing the kind of concerns that we should be looking at as we get into design.”
Reaction
Charles Stowe, a First Ward Alderman who attended Monday’s meeting — and stressed he was there to speak in his capacity as a private citizen — was skeptical about the plans.
Stowe lives on Granite Terrace, and his property abuts Romano’s.
He said Castle Lane isn’t wide enough and said Castle Lane’s intersection with Old Ansonia Road — which sits just over the Seymour line — would need to be improved as well.
Stowe also echoed concerns raised by several of the PZC members.
“If you could possibly … show that you’re not going to do any harm to the neighbors, I wish you the best of luck,” he said. “I don’t want to see that subdivision there no more than I want to go to the moon, but if you can make it so that zoning approves it, that’s your land.”
Milone said after Monday’s presentation that he’d talk with Romano about how he wants to proceed.
He said the additional design work and calculations would take “a couple months, minimum” before a formal application could be submitted to the city’s land use boards.
