At a Derby Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday (Aug. 25) Sunset Drive resident Tom Lionetti said his road is already used as a shortcut for people trying to get from the hilltop area of Ansonia down to the commercial strip on Route 34 in Derby.
He worried that improving the existing gravel-type gated access road from Ansonia High School to Sunset Drive will encourage people to use it. Residents also worried about impacts the project could have on Derby’s Witek Park, and the quality of life in their neighborhood in general.
Lionetti’s comments were echoed by several of his neighbors who spoke at the meeting, which was held online using Zoom video conferencing software. The complete meeting is embedded at the top of this story.
Donald Smith, Jr. an engineer hired by Ansonia, said the goal is not to turn the emergency access road into a regularly used road.
Ansonia High School has only one way out, which isn’t wise according to modern school safety measures.
The access road isn’t really a road currently — it’s more of a trail that connects to Derby but is flooded when it rains. Smith said a gate that keeps vehicles off the road will be put in. In addition, Smith detailed a plan that will greatly reduce the drainage problems that currently plague the area, causing silt to empty into waterways at Witek Park.
“We apologize for the confusion and hope the neighbors are not too upset,” Smith said. “We’re just trying to make sure the students are safe and the stormwater that currently exists get treated properly so that we don’t continue to have that erosion problem. We’ll have an access way that can be used on a moment’s notice, if need be.”
An image from Tuesday’s Zoom meeting of the Derby P&Z.
Lionetti (the neighbor on Sunset), was also deeply skeptical regarding the transparency of Ansonia and Derby officials, even calling upon long-time Derby Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Ted Estwan to resign should the commission green light Ansonia’s plan.
But Estwan sided with his Derby neighbors to some extent, repeatedly asking Smith why the location of the access road couldn’t be connected to Crestwood Road in Ansonia.
Estwan said changing the plans to Crestwood would keep Ansonia’s emergency access road in Ansonia and alleviate the concerns of Derby neighbors.
Estwan said the drainage problems should be viewed as a separate issue, one that could be resolved and benefit both communities.
Smith said he had been working on the plan with Derby’s consulting engineer for six months and had been in contact with Mayor Rich Dziekan’s office regarding the plan.
Deep into Tuesday’s meeting, Robert Evans, the facilities director for the Ansonia school district, said that Crestwood Road would not work for emergency access because a fire truck would be unable to navigate a turn in the road.
Ultimately the Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen will decide whether the grant Ansonia easements Ansonia needs over Derby-owned land to do the project.
The goal of Tuesday’s meeting was simply for the Derby P&Z is recommend or not recommend to the Aldermen.
Ultimately the P&Z took no action, its members saying they needed more time to review. The subject will likely return to the agenda of the next Derby P&Z meeting.
