Objections Raised To Proposed Shelton Development

Fred MusanteAn application for a 140-unit residential development off Long Hill Cross Road in Shelton is shaping up as a battle over whether developers should follow the Plan of Conservation and Development adopted by the city in 2006 — something the proposal does not do.

The application, by developers Albert J. Grasso and Joseph and Louis Salemme, doing business as Hawks Ridge of Shelton LLC, would create a 40-acre Planned Development District (PDD) for the eventual construction of 60 single-family homes, 80 multifamily units and an assisted living facility on property the Plan for Conservation and Development designates for light industrial use.

At a public hearing by the Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission last Wednesday (April 24), experts hired by the developers testified that the prospects were not good in the current real estate market for light industrial development at the property, but that their market surveys indicated that there is a strong demand for housing.

The developers’ experts also said that the Hawks Ridge development would generate between $200,000 and $600,000 in tax revenue over the increased cost for public services that would result if the development were built.

Click here for a previous story on the proposal.

This PDD will be beneficial to the city,” said Stephen Bellis, the developers’ attorney.

The PZC continued the hearing to May 22 after listening to the developers’ presentation and some of the proposal’s critics.

Those critics, including the Shelton Conservation Commission, cited the Plan of Conservation and Development as a fundamental reason for their opposition.

Fred MusanteConservation Objections

In a letter to the PZC, Conservation Commission Chairman Tom Harbinson said his commission strenuously objects to the proposal.”

He said the commission believes it would be inappropriate … to ignore the Plan of Conservation and Development,” feeling that would apply short-term thinking” to the long-term development planning for the Bridgeport Avenue business corridor.

Click here to read the Plan of Conservation and Development, an advisory document which was adopted in 2006.

The Conservation Commission’s letter also included other objections related to the proposal’s environmental focus.

It noted that the PDD proposal has inadequate” set asides for open space, no plan for preserving stone walls, rock outcroppings, mature trees and other natural resources, and no adequate protection” to address water quality runoff into the Farmill River.

In conclusion, the Conservation Commission would urge the Planning and Zoning Commission to either stick to the Plan of Conservation and Development that this City fought long and hard to establish, or alternatively to require a change of zone to residential zoning where appropriate regulations could be implemented to address these issues,” Harbinson wrote.

Article continues after the letter.

Conservation Commission Letter To PZC

Another critic was Regis Dognin of Long Hill Avenue, who is also a member of the Water Pollution Control Authority.

Dognin defended the current zoning in the Plan of Conservation and Development and argued to keep it that way for the future development of the city’s tax base.

Dognin noted that the Hawks Ridge development property was first zoned for industrial use in 1963 and remained that way through revisions of the Plan in 1992, 1999 and 2006.

But if the developers succeed in getting a residential development approved, its potential for an industrial or commercial use would be lost forever, Dognin said.

It is important to understand that it is all too easy to say yes’ when a no’ is the right answer based on sound planning and not current market conditions,” he concluded.

Support, Sewer Concerns

A number of local building contractors, including plumbing contractor Brian Rooney of Thompson Street and Doug Cooper, owner of Diversified Kitchens in Huntington Center, spoke in support of the proposal, saying that it would produce jobs for local businesses, unlike other developers who have brought in out-of-state subcontractors.

That way, Shelton dollars can stay Shelton dollars,” said Rooney.

Another issue against the Hawks Ridge proposal was raised by the Shelton Water Pollution Control Authority Chairman Michael DeAngelis.

DeAngelis said in 2004, the authority divided Shelton into 12 areas to allocate the remaining capacity of the city’s sewer system and water treatment plant, based on projections that depend in part on the Plan of Conservation and Development zoning map.

He said some developers have threatened to sue the WPCA if it does not reallocate its sewer capacity to allow their development projects.

We changed each of these sewershed areas five or six times in the past,” he said.

DeAngelis said the Hawks Ridge residential project would generate significantly higher wastewater flows than an industrial use at the site would, and might require the WPCA to replace existing sewer lines with larger pipes to handle the increased flow.

He said WPCA board approved the Hawks Ridge application for a sewer hookup in spite of this, although he could not recall a livelier debate among board members on an application.

DeAngelis told the PZC that currently, the Shelton WPCA has the third lowest sewer use charge in Connecticut. That’s the basic annual fee for connection to the sewer system.

But if significant zoning changes are allowed that force the WPCA to replace sewer lines, it might have no choice but to raise the fee for all sewer users to pay for it, he said.

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