NORWALK, Conn. – A proposed Norwalk development, which has reignited opposition from the Save Cranbury Association, drew little in the way of negative comments Thursday from Norwalk zoning commissioners.
Attorney Elizabeth Suchy, representing Special Properties II, told the Plan Review Committee that the 21 homes planned for the White Barn property at 78 Cranbury Road conform with the Norwalk regulations regarding conservation development, which were written in 1981. Commissioner Nora King objected to the plan to demolish the White Barn Theater, but there were no other negative comments.
About 10 people attended the meeting just to hear the presentation. Assistant Planning and Zoning Director Mike Wrinn said that about 20 emails from neighbors have been received, and that he expects more.
The plan to develop the property that once belonged to the late actress and producer Lucille Lortel resulted in the formation of Save Cranbury in 2003. Eventually 5.5 acres of what was then an 18-acre estate were put into a permanent conservation easement. In 2007, a plan that the neighbors liked better, to build a campus for the Connecticut Friends School, was approved by the Commission. But that has lapsed, and the property is back in the hands of New Canaan developer Jim Feiber under the entity Special Properties II. Save Cranbury appealed for community support on Tuesday, with spokesman Julian Henkin calling the plan “a mockery of the efforts in the past of both the grass roots community and the support that was garnered by the local and state government.”
Suchy said that part of the requirements for a conservation development is that at least half of the land be in a conservation easement area. Fieber would add 2.2 acres to the existing conservation easement, making it just over 7 acres on the 15.4 acre property, she said.
“The goal is to conserve or preserve land, or preserve land for parks and recreation purposes, or preserve and protect areas of natural beauty or historic interest, to preserve streams, rivers and ponds or to preserve wetlands,” she said of the regulation.
There are about 30 conservation developments in Norwalk, ranging from five residences to 25 to 30 houses, she said. The property is in a AA zone, where the regulations require at least 4 acres for such a development, she said. The homes must be 30 feet apart and 40 feet back from wetlands or a watercourse and be served by public water and a public sewer, she said.
The proposal includes extending the sewer line, she said.
“For those of you who wonder how do you calculate the number of units, it’s a mathematical formula. You take the total acreage, you deduct two-thirds of any wetlands or watercourses from that total acreage, you then divide the minimum lot size. … It’s 21,780 square feet per lot, you multiply that remaining land acreage by .85 and that accounts for roadways, things of that nature, and that just gives you a number. It’s a mathematical formula, there’s very little subjectivity that goes into the way that you come up with the total number of units. You take all those numbers, you plug them in and you come up with 21,” Suchy said.
The three-bedroom homes range from 2,800 to 3,100 square feet and are designed for empty nesters, an architect said. This is patterned after Fieber’s successful development in Stamford, River Oaks, he said.
Commissioner Nate Sumpter asked how the public would gain access to the conservation land. Suchy said conservation developments do not include parking for people who do not live there, but there will be trails through the woods. The land would be open to the public in the same way it would have been if the Friends school had been built, she said.
King asked where the theater was on the plan. Suchy said it would be demolished.
“I believe the Friends School had a desire to use the White Barn as some sort of performing arts center but that just is not part of this plan,” Suchy said. “The building itself is in a tremendous state of disrepair. To renovate it would really be an unrealistic goal.”
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