Jodie Mozdzer Gil Photo
James Pendry, left, shows Brian Nesteriak, Seymour’s town engineer, old architectural drawings during a public hearing June 8.
Twelve condominium units could be added to the Great Oak Ridge Way complex off Pearl Street, completing the development more than a decade after the project started.
The Seymour Planning and Zoning and the Inland Wetlands commissions are currently reviewing plans submitted by Summit Seymour LLC to complete Phase II of the Great Oak Ridge Way development.
Phase II was originally approved in 2007, but only 10 of the 22 units were built and sold before the economy went sour in 2008.
“It was the financial collapse the really did us in,” James Pendry, owner of Summit Seymour LLC, told the Planning and Zoning Commission during a public hearing on the application June 8.
Phase I of the Great Oak Ridge Way complex was completed in 2006 with 34 units. If the latest plans are approved, the total number of units would be 56. The property about 26 acres. The condos are bordered by Spring and Pearl streets.
Now, back with financing to complete the project, Pendry said he is “ready to go.”
The original approval expired last year, so Pendry is before the town’s zoning and wetlands boards with a new application. Each board is conducting a public hearing on the application.
The Planning and Zoning Commission opened the public hearing June 8, and continued it to July 13 at 7 p.m., awaiting follow-up from the developer.
The Inland Wetlands Commission will open its public hearing on the proposal at its next meeting on June 26.
“The proposal remains substantially and materially the same as previously approved by the commission,” Pendry’s zoning permit application states.
But there are slight differences in the plans.
Jodie Mozdzer Gil Photo
This road would be extended and 12 more condos built, if plans before the Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission are approved, again.
The original unit plans measured 17 ft by 41 ft, but now the plans call for a more square building at 22 ft by 32 ft. The wider building means the total footprint of the building changes.
Where the original plan called for 75-foot setbacks from the neighboring yard, the new plan has 37.5‑foot setbacks, according to Ted Hart, an engineer with Milone & MacBroom. That is still within the allowable limit by the town’s zoning codes, Hart said.
Each unit will include its own driveway and garage, and there will be 22 new parking spots added to the project, according to the plans.
Brian Nesteriak, the town’s engineer, asked for updated soil plans for the construction phase, as he was concerned the original plans didn’t take into account residents living in the first 10 units.
Jodie Mozdzer Gil Photo
James Pendry, owner of Summit Seymour LLC, presents a site plan to the Planning and Zoning Commission during a public hearing on June 8.
“They don’t deserve to be disturbed through this,” Nesteriak said.
Nesteriak also said the zoning regulations require more spacing between the two buildings because they have six units each, something Pendry said his team will rework on the plans.
The town has also asked for updated architectural plans that show the floor plan for the new size units.
Updated traffic studies found that the traffic levels will remain the same.
“This is not a big traffic generator,” Hart said.
Cynthia Zukas, who lives on Pearl Street, said she was happy to see the project would finally be completed, but stressed the need to maintain landscaping within the back borders of the property.
The condos are three stories high, and trees planted 10 years ago to shield one-story ranches from the new buildings have not grown big enough yet, she said.
Zukas also expressed concerns that the property border along Spring Street has become overgrown, attracting litter.
