Update July 9: The Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday rescheduled the public hearing to Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. in City Hall.
Original post follows below.
An application to put 10 homes on a 14-acre property off Ansonia’s Castle Lane will be the subject of a public hearing July 16.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission formally accepted the application at its meeting June 29 and scheduled the hearing for July 16 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
The application represents a significant reduction in scope from a 2011 application in which the owner, Mark Romano of Shelton, sought to build a 23-home subdivision on the land.
City planners rejected that application, which was met with stiff opposition from neighbors, and a judge sided with the city on appeal.
The zoners on Tuesday also tentatively scheduled a site walk for 11:30 a.m. July 11, though that date needs to be confirmed with the property’s owner.
(Update July 7: The site walk will be scheduled after the July 16 public hearing, according to a notice in the city clerk’s office.)
Background
A limited liability company controlled by Romano bought the land for $250,000 in November 2010, according to city land records.
The development was originally proposed to the planning and zoning commission 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, possible water table depletion, and safety concerns about developing the land, which features steep slopes at several places.
In November 2011, the commission voted to deny the application.
The developer appealed the decision, which resulted in a court case.
A judge at Milford Superior Court upheld the commission’s decision in May 2013.
Plans Revised
In January 2014, Romano returned to the commission for an “informal discussion” of the property, during which an engineer he hired went over two “options” for development — a 10-home subdivision and a 15-home subdivision.
An application for a 10-home subdivision was filed with the city last month.
According to an engineering report in the application from Milone and MacBroom, a Cheshire-based consultancy, each of the 10 new homes would be serviced by new, individual wells.
The homes would be accessed by extending Castle Lane, which would terminate in a cul-de-sac.
A sewer line already extends through the property that would be connected to the new houses, according to the report, which also lists several “best management practices” to control stormwater runoff and drainage there.
A handful of neighboring residents attended Monday’s meeting to raise questions about the application.
Hearing Next Month
Joseph Jaumann, the commission’s chairman, asked those present to review the revised application at City Hall and return for next month’s public hearing.
“Obviously feel free to make some of your comments tonight if you want to but just to let you know, there is going to be another forum to address this,” he said.
Edward Musante, a Castle Lane resident, told the commission that the road is too narrow to accommodate the development.
Musante also handed in a petition from 2011 with more than 100 signatures from residents opposed to the development, as well as an October 2011 letter from the Seymour PZC to the Ansonia PZC in which the Seymour zoners objected to the application.
Article continues after letter.
Charles Stowe, a resident of nearby Granite Terrace and First Ward Alderman, also raised concerns about the application and submitted a letter with asking whether there would be any blasting and whether that might disturb neighboring landowners with wells, among other questions.
Stowe’s letter is posted below.
