Shelter Ridge Letter to PZC April 27

8/17/2019 Shelter Ridge Letter to PZC April 27

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April27,2016

Ruth Parkins,

Chair

Planning

ndZoningCommission

54

Hill

Street

Shelton,CT 06484

RE: Towne

Center at ShelterRidge PDD Application #16-8

StepOne

Bridgeport Ave.,

Mill Street,and Buddington

Road Map

50 Lot9

DearMs.

Parkins:

The

Conservation

ommission

ndTrails

Committee rge he Planning ndZoning

Commission

to deny

he

proposed

helterRidgeapplication.

The

proposed

PDD

would undo a

quarter

century

of exhaustive

lanning,

documentation, nd

fieldwork

performed

y countless olunteers

nd

city

officials o

preserve

scenic

greenway

corridor hrough

his area or Shelton's esidents,

nd

eopardize

ubstantialnvestments ade

by theCity.

Our recommendations

based n the ollowing considerations:

1. GreenwayDevelopment

Goals: Shelton's ward-winning

reenway

rogram

as esulted

n

the strategic

acquisitionof openspace

roperties

o form contiguous

greenbelts

n which the

total

is

greater

han he

sum of the

parts.

Our residents re

proud

of

these

natural

areasand he

recreational

pportunities hey afford,

providing

balance or a

growing

city and enhancing ur

quahty

of

life.

These

roposed reenways,

r

greenspace

orridors,were irst identified n Shelton's

Open

Space lan

of

1993

and efined n the Open

Space

lan

of

2009,

adopted y the Board

of

Aldermen

and he Planningand Zoning Commission.

Two

of

these

greenways

meet

on the ShelterRidge

site.

The SheltonLakes

Greenway

encompasses ost

of the

property

west of the

powerline

corridor,

while

the

Far

Mill

River

1

conservation@cityofshelto

03-924-1555,

315

wmti.

heltonconservation.

ro


2/7

Greenway uns

parallel

o Mill

Street.

Linkage

of these wo

greenway

orridors ncreases

he

value of each or both

recreational

pportunities

and wildlife value.

Under he OpenSpace lan,

Private

and ocatedwithinoneof the

conceptual

reenways

s of

special

nterest o the Conservation

ommission.

he

andwill

receive

higher ankfor

open

space cquisition, nd he Commissionwould avean interest n reviewingapplicationsforarry

site developments,ariances,

and wetlandactivities hat might impact

he openspacecorridor.

As such.

we have reviewed

he terrain and walked the site,and {ind there s

a

low ridgeline

that can reasonablv

be used o seoarateeconomic

develonment long Bridgeport Avenue

from

the SheltonLakes

and

Far

Mill River Greenwavs

delineated

n

our Ooen SpacePlan.

Economic

evelopment f the

sitecancoexistwith

greenway

evelopment

o

ong

as his

ridgeline s respected.

he

site

plan

cunentlybefore he Commission

oes

not respect

his

ridgeline,but insteadusest as a base or intensesite development t this sensitive ocation.

Although

he

proposal

showsan openspace edication

of 20% of the site, hat open

space

consists

lmost

entirelyof undevelopable

ortions

of the site

ncluding

steep lopes,wetlands,

disturbed

reas,ill slopes, ndutility lines.These

areas ave ittle recreational

alue o residents

andwould be overshadowed

y the new construction

a

few feet

away.

For comparison,

he HuntingtonWoods

development

n

WesleyDrive, or which

210

condominiums

were originally

proposed,

was withdrawn and resubmitted

with 70 clustered

homes,

3%of the sitededicatedor

openspace

including

a

viable oute

or the Shelton akes

Recreation ath),and he developer greedo place$60,000n escrow o be used o build the

RecPath.Twenty

years

aterwe have

a

desirable

ubdivision nda

popular

rail enjoyed y

the

entire community.

2. Old Kings Highway

Open Spaceand

Old Kings Highway

(road):

lnlgg4,the

City of

Sheltonacquireda l6-acre

property

which had been

earmarked

or

openspaceacquisition

due

o

its

sceniccharacter nd ocation

within the SheltonLakes

Greenwav.

The

property

was

purchased

nly after commencing

minentdomain

proceedings

n

order

o

prevent

a high

density

esidential

development. his

openspace,which was deemed

o

inappropriate

or residential

developmenthat the

City

felt the need

o seize he

property,

s

located

within

50

feet

of

the fill slope or the

tower

in

which therewould be 450 apartnents.

Precedentas

beenset or this ocation

and

here s

no

reason

o reverse ourse nd

eopardize

the

City's openspacenvestment.

2


3/7

The

Old

Kings

Highway

Open

Space

s

somewhat

andlocked

with

marginalpublic

access.

t is

located

within

a valley

or hollow

through

which

a stream

lows,

spilling

down

he

hillside

in

a

series

f

scenic

waterfalls.

Due

o

the

opography,

ne

does

nothear

he

sounds

f

passing

ars,

only

running

water.

In1994theOpenSpaceCommittee ublished, 'Reportfor theOldKingsHighwayproposed

Open

Space

Areao

n which

the

Committee

argued

or preservation

f the

property:

,,It

will

provide

a

critical

linknge

between

he Far

Mill

River

and Shelton

Lakes

Greenways

ndwill

permit

the

extension

f the

Blue

Dot

Trail

through

his

section

of the

City.',

Running

along

he border

between

he

open

space

and

he

Shelter

Ridge

site s

a

scenic

old

road

lined

with

stone

walls.

Old

Kings

Highway

dates

back

o

pre-revolutionary

Connecticut,

when

t

crossed

helton

rom

the Far

Mill

River

o

the

downtown

area.

t is

the

best emnant

f

an early

colonial

oad

eft in

Shelton

the

oad

s

shown

asalready

bsolete

n

a map

rom

l862)

1n2009,

the Community

Resources

nventory

Committee

designatedhis sectionof Old KingsHighway

as

Scenic.

This

scenic

hollow,

with

its

waterfalls

and

colonial

road,

has

been

earmarked

s a

future

destination

oint

for

travelers

long

he

greenway.

The

scenic

alue

of this

valley

s

derived

not

only

from

ts

beauty,

ut from

the

peaceful

llusion

of wilderness.

ny

development

long

he

rim

of

this valley (the

ridgeline)

will

degrade

he

entire

valley.

3.

The

Paugussett

rail

Also

known

as

the

Blue Dot,

the

Paugussett

rail

is

an mportant

art

of

Shelton,s

eritage

nd

tradition.ManyolderSheltonesidents ave ondmemories f hiking he rail, oftenwith Boy

Scout

hoops,

until

it

was

cut offby

new

construction

n

the ate

1960s.

t

was

originally

constructed

n

the 1930s

y crews

with

the

Civilian

Conservation

orps CCC),

a work program

of

the

Great

Depression.

t

is

part

of a

state-wide

etwork

of

Connecticut

lue-Blazed

rails,,

totaling

over

800

miles

hat

are

managed

y

the

Connecticut

orest

and

park

Association

(CFPA).

The

Paugussett

rail

originally

ran

from

Lake

Zoar

n

Monroe

hrough

ndian

Well

State

Park,

and

down

hrough

he

Old Kings

Highway

property

next

to

the

Shelter

Ridge

site.

From

here

t

continued

on to

Roosevelt

Forest

n

Stratford,

with

a major

branch

heading

down

the Far

Mill

River

o

Route

110.

The

rail

south

of Indian

Well

was

officially

abandoned

y

CFPA

by 1970

after

subdivisions

ere

built

over

he

route.

For

many years,

he

City

has

worked

diligently

to

restore

his

historic

rail

back

o

the

Stratford

border

at

the Far

Mill

River.

A

partial

timeline

demonstrates

his invesfinent

of time

and

monev:

1993:

The

trail

restoration

s included

n

the

Open

Space

lan

3


4/7

1994: Areport

on the

proposed

Old Kings HighwayOpenSpace

eclares

t would

be a

destination

or

the Blue Dot Trail.

1997:.The OCUS

goup

formed

o

promote

acquisition f surpluswatercompany

roperties

says he Blue Dot restoration s

one

reason or

purchasing

SheltonLakesand Old Kings

Highway.

2003:The City purchaseshe IndianWell Overlookpropertywith aDEPgrantwith the stated

purpose

of extending

he

Paugussett rail.

2005:A secondndian

Well Overlook

property

s

purchased

ith a DEP

grant.

The

City's

letter

to the DEP

states, Themainfunctionof this acquisition s to serveas a linkage

of

theBlue

BlazedTrail

System onnectingMonroe o

Sheltonand Stratford.

2007:The

City

purchases

he United Illuminating

property

north of BuddingtonRoad or

the

purpose

f restoring he Paugussettrail.

2008:Shelton eceives n award rom

CFPA

or

vision

and

perseverance

n developing town-

wide rail system...andontinue heir

invaluable ffort o

restore

and extend hePaugussett rail

from Indian Well o theStratfordTownLine.

2009:The newly revised

OpenSpace

lan

states,

The

next

goal

is to extend hePaugussett

Trail along the Far Mill River

to the Stratfurd own ine. The trail is also shownon the Open

SpaceMap.

2012:

CFPAofficially recognizes ix milesof newly restored augussettrail

between

ndian

Well StatePark

and

BuddingtonRoad. The

effort encompasses

ears

of trail buildingand

multiple

EagleScout

projects.

Note hat

only

CFPA

can

ecognize

new rail section, ot the

City of Shelton,

nd

t

canonly be done f it meets riteria or a scenic rail.

Many

other

properties

along he trail route were

purchased

hrough he

years

o

provide

a

permanently rotectedoute or the trail. The City hasbeensteadfastn its efforts to restore his

trail.

The Trails Committee

Chairman,

Bill

Dyer,

has

met with the

properfy

owner of the ShelterRidge

site over he

ast

several

ears

o identifu a reasonableoute or the

trail.

The

proposed

parbnent

tower sit directly

on top of that

route.

At its April 2016meeting,

he SheltonTrails Committee pproved motion hat ncluded he

following:

After review

of the

plans

andwalking

hevarious outes he Trails

Committee

oes NotSupport

the

openspaceand trail

routes

as

shown

on the applicant's

plans.

There s enormous

learing,

grading

and developmentmmediately

djacent

o the

open

space,which detracts

rorn

anyone

everwanting o use he Paugussett rail

or

visit

the Old Kings

Highwry

openspace. The

oute

the

applicanthasshown s not

practical

or desirablefor

us

o acceptfor esident's

se.

We

recommend

hat

the

PDD

plans

be

deniedand anyfuture

project

be scaledback

o

preserve

a


5/7

moresuitable rail

and

greenwqt

corcidor

hat s acceptable

o the City

andwhich s more

consistent

with

the City's

long

term

greernyay

oals.

Connecticut

lue-Blazed

rails

are

higher

level'

regional

rails and herefore

xpected

o be

scenic n

character. n

the case

of ShelterRidge,

a scenic rail

corridor can be maintained

by not

buildingon the ridgeline.

4.

Mill

StreetScenicRoad

On November

,

1993,

he Board

of Alderman

unanimously

assed

Ordinance 660

Mill Street

as

a ScenicRoad.

This was

he rst road

n Shelton

o designated

ue o its highly

scenicand

historiccharacter.

he ordinance

etails he reasons

or it

beingdesignated

sa

ScenicRoad:

I. The

highway

s bordered

y mature

reesand

stonewolls.

2. The

highway

offers

scenicviews.

3. The

highway

parollels

the Far Mill Riverfor its entire ength.

4. The ravelled

portion

of the highway

s

generally

no more han 20

eet

in width.

5. The

highway

blendsnaturally

into

the surrounding

errain.

6. The

abutting

property

doesnot contain

any

commercialdevelopment.

The

allest

buildingof

the ShelterRidge

proposal,

modernnine-story

ower,would

become

he

most

prominent

eature

alonghalf

of

Mill

Street.We

would like

to stress

hat the applicant s

not

only

building

on the top

of the hill,

but

making

he

hill taller with fill

asmuch

as

hirty-five

feet

deep.The

building is

thereforeevenhigher

relative

o the surrounding

errain han

he number

of

stories t

includes.

5.

F'ar

Mill River

The Far

Mill River

runs

parallel

o Mill Street

ndvisual mpacts

long his

scenic iver

will be

the same

s hosedescribed

or Mill

Street.The iver

s used or recreation

y trout fishermen

(the

river is

stocked

by the

CT

DEEP)

and by

advanced ayakers,

who

put

their

kayaks n

on

Mill Street

at

the Grishill Trail

OpenSpace

and boat down

past

he

proposed

development

o

Route110.

According

o the American

Whitewater

Association,

his 3-mile

stretch f water

has

Class V waterfalls

nd

apids.

This

river forms

he coreof

the City

of Shelton'sFar Mill

River

Greenway. onservation

ands

below

the

project

site areheld

by the City

of Sheltoq the

Stateof Connecticut,

and

he

Shelton

Land

Conservation

rust, attesting

o

the

value

of

this corridor for

conservation

urposes.

We

havealso

had

he

FarMill

River Association,

rout

Unlimited,and

he Housatonic

alley

Association

working

in this corridor

o improve

he watershed.


6/7

Stormwater

oming rom

the new

development

will have

a

high

potential

o impact

he river.

There

are ndications

hat water

quality

is

decreasing

n the river,

which may ead

o the river

being unsuitable

or trout. Although good

engineering

ractices

an reduce

he mpacts

of new

stormwater

ischarges

o the river,

they will

not eliminate

hem. This

proposed

PDD

would

add

vast

new

areasof impervious

surfaces

o

the watershed,

specially

or all the

surface

parking.

Thisareaand he negativempacts o the river couldbereduced ubstantially y reducing he

footprint

of the development.

tructured

arking

and

multistoried

uildings

couldbe used

o

reduce

he

mpervious

overage.

6.

Useof the PDD in

Residential

Areas

As outlined n

our 2014

Position

Statement

n the

Useof PDDs n

Residential

reas,this

he

Conservation

ommission

elieves

he PDD mechanism

asbeen

used nappropriately

n

Shelton

o increase

itedensity n

R-l zonedareas.

or

his

particular

ite, he lexibility

of the

PDD

ool

should

be used o

concentrate

conomic

evelopment

long

he Bridgeport

Avenue

corridor

while

preserving

he ridgetopand heR-l zoneandgreenway ehind he ridge.It should

not

be used

o cftIm

a massive

esidential

ower

overMill

Street, r

to build a

shopping enter

on

Buddington

Road.

7.

The PDD

Regulations.

The

ollowing

excerpts

rom

the PDD regulations ertain

o the

conservation

spects

f the

proposal:

Intent

(3a.1):

The ntent

of the PDD

s

to

encourage

ndaccommodate

niqueand

desirable

development

hat will

be consistent

with the

ong range.

orderly

development

f

an areabut is

not

accommodated

y

the established

onventional

oning of

that area.

Due

to the convergence

of thecity's greenwayand economicdevelopment orridors n this location, he PDD mechanism

has

he

potential

o

allow for

a more

appropriate

ite

design han

he underlying

LIP zone,

one

that

balances

helton's

conomic

evelopment

oals

with

greenway

evelopment

oals.

However,

his

potential

hasnot

been ealized

n

the

proposed

ite

plan.

Natural

Features

34.3.8):

When

easonably

rudent

and easible,

evelopment

roposals

hall

make easonable

ttempts

o

adapt o existing

opography

and

natural

site features.

For this

site,

the

ridgetop

was dentified

as a natural

site feature

hat should

be used

o

protect

he residential

and

greenway

orridor

from the Bridgeport

Avenue

commercial

areas.

The

proposed

PDD

does

not

do so.

Findings

Required

or Initial

Development

Concept

Plan Approval

(34.8)d:

Provisions or

...usable

penspace

re

adequate

nd

acceptable.

he

proposed

penspaces

not usable ,

but

is dominated

y steep

lopes,wetlands,

owerlines,

he

gas

ines,

andmajor

ill slopes

rip

rap).

6


7/7

(34.8)f:

The

proposal

will not have

a significant dverse

mpact

of srurounding

roperties.

This

proposal

will havea significant egativempact

on the adjacentOld

Kings

Highwayopen

space wnedby the City of Shelton,which was ntended

o ultimately serve

as a

destination ite

along

a

restored

augussett

rail.

The

proposal

would eliminateany realistic

chance f

continuing he Paugussett rail

into the

property.

The neighboringconservation

roperties

ownedby the SheltonLand Trustand he Stateof Connecticutwould also be degraded.

(34.8)9:

Ecological

andenvironmental

oncems ssociated

ith

the

proposal...will

e

adequately

ddressed. The mpacts o this importantconnection

between he SheltonLakes

and

FarMill River Greenway

orridors avenot beenadequately ddressed.

In conclusion,

he PDD mechanism

ives

he Planning

nd

ZorungCommission

everageo insist

on a

well-designed

ite

plan

hatwill be a win-win for

the developer nd he communityat arge.

The

proposed

PDD before

you

is not that

plan.

We are ortunate o have opography n this

location

so well-suited or separatinghe economic

evelopment longBridgeportAvenue

rom

the residential eighborhood

nd

greenway

orridorbehind heridge.The Conservation

Commission

ndTrails

Committee rge

you

to deny his PDD. We cando much

better.

Sincerely,

,l

,ro t tl

l, /t

: ' ,

/:t l

i

v ' i ; : 'L* '

Thomas

Harbinson

Chair

cc:

JohnCook,InlandWetlands

Robert

Kulacz, City Engineer

Attachments:NaturalResources

f

Shelter

Ridge

Natural Resourcesmpacts

Towne

Center

at ShelterRidge

1994

Report

or the Old Kings Highway OpenSpace cquisition

Paugussett rail documents

frail

map,

map of

propertiespurchased,

CFPA

Award.FOCUSbrochure.

Shelton

Life

article.

Documents

Shelter Ridge Letter to PZC April 27