The Planning and Zoning denial of five new homes on Jems Woods Road last May basically came down to a cul-de-sac.
The Inland Wetlands Commission didn’t want Jems Woods Road — a dead-end — to connect with Old Good Hill Road, but the Planning and Zoning Commission did.
Now, an attorney for the developer, Connecticut Commercial Investors LLC, is trying to get the town to settle an appeal of the Planning and Zoning Commission decision.
The developer filed a lawsuit against the Commission May 26.
After a pre-trial hearing on the appeal in Milford Superior Court Aug. 11, the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed the litigation in executive session at its Thursday meeting.
There was no vote taken and members didn’t go into detail about what was said.
The next court date is Oct. 14, but Dominick Thomas, the developer’s attorney, is hoping the town will settle the lawsuit before then.
“I am flabbergasted with their decision,” Thomas said last week about the Planning and Zoning Commission. “We addressed all the issues and it was like they weren’t even listening.”
Background
Connecticut Commercial Investors LLC and Woodlands Realty LLC wanted to add five homes at the end of Jems Woods Road.
The new subdivision was proposed on 30 acres and would have included about 8 acres of open space.
Under the proposal, Jems Woods Road would have been extended by 200 feet to provide access for two land-locked lots, Thomas said. The road would have looped around and connected back to Old Good Hill Road.
Before it arrived on the table of the Planning and Zoning Commission, the project was reviewed by the town’s Inland Wetlands Commission.
Inland Wetlands approved it, but its members told the developer they could not connect Jems Woods Road back to Old Good Hill Road because of steep slopes, said Manny Silva, an engineer with Tiso Engineering.
So the developers included a cul-de-sac at the end of their project.
Not So Fast, Says P&Z
But when the proposal went before the Planning and Zoning Commission, its members said the permanent cul-de-sac didn’t comply with local rules for dead-end streets. They wanted to see the road loop back to Old Good Hill Road.
“The commission thought the connection was feasible,” said Vinny Vizzo, chairman of the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
Vizzo said the commission would continue to discuss the litigation in executive sessions at future meetings.
Vizzo didn’t comment on any potential settlement, but said the Commission could discuss the litigation in executive session with its lawyer at future meeting.
Executive session meetings are closed to the public, which is legal when matters of litigation is involved. The Commission must state the litigation it is discussing and any vote must be made in public.
Robert Uskevich, the attorney for the Planning and Zoning Commission, said he met with the Commission members to discuss the case but would not comment on the details of pending litigation.
