SHELTON -- A developer has formally submitted plans to construct 23 single family homes on land with frontage on and access from Constitution Boulevard South.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing at a future date on the plans for nearly nine acres of land -- divided among four parcels -- owned by David A. Chuckta listed as 0 Constitution Blvd. and 0 Weybosset St.
These plans have been filed concurrently with an application to rezone the parcels, all of which are abutting, from the present R1 and R2 to R3, which would allow for denser development. He had filed a similar application in January but withdrew it after facing criticism from residents over the impact such development would have on the area.
The parcels are bordered by Ridge Lane to the north and Sunset Drive to the south.
Attorney Dominick Thomas, representing Chuckta, said he has also filed an application for a text change to the Designed Residential Development in relation to this site. The change would remove specific setback requirements.
"If both applications are approved, the intent is to do a DRD off Constitution Boulevard -- a private road -- for single family detached units," Thomas said.
Thomas said the DRD zone requires a substantial designation of open space.
The commission has yet to render decisions on either pending application, but Thomas says this latest filing was important to give the commissioners and nearby property owners a look at the plans.
"We wanted to put a visual of what would be done here, if the applications we've already submitted are approved," Thomas said. "Approval of the housing development plan would be contingent on the other two (applications) being approved."
Thomas, during the public hearing on the zone change application, told the commission that if the zone change request is approved, the plan is to file for subdivisions allowing for future development.
The latest proposal submitted this past week shows that entrance to the single-family housing development, dubbed Woods Way, would be off Constitution Boulevard.
If the Designed Residential Development request is approved, Thomas said more than 3 acres of open space -- about 39 percent of the total acreage -- would be conveyed to the city. This would allow for protecting the headwaters of Ivy Brook.
Thomas said, if the land is developed in its R1 and R2 zone designation, the area that residents want preserved -- the headwaters of Ivy Brook -- could just be part of the subdivision. Under the DRD, the commission could require that land be open space.