Simsbury, CT - Conservation Commission Minutes (combined with ZC, PC and DRB)

In attendance at this meeting were Zoning Commission members and alternates – Austin Barney, Garrett Delehanty, Jr., James Gallagher, Alexis Popik, Scott Barnett and Madeleine Gilkey. Planning Commission members and alternates – John Loomis, Ernest Gardow, Susan Bednarcyk, Ferguson Jansen, Jr., Charles Houlihan, Jr., Bradford Mead, Carol Cole, and Mark Drake. Design Review Board members and alternates Emil Dahlquist, Kevin Gray, William Gardner, Charles Stephenson, John Stewart, Mark Naccarato, John Carroll and Anthony Drapelick. Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency members and alternates Margery Winters, John Yocom, Thomas Sharpless, Margaret Sexton and Dominick Zackeo. Also in attendance were Hiram Peck, Director of Planning Town of Simsbury, Lois Laczko, Commission Clerk and other interested parties.

Dwight Merriam explained the procedure for tonight’s meeting. He said that the River Oaks people will have until timeMinute0Hour208:00 p.m. as an opportunity to do an uninterrupted presentation. From timeMinute0Hour208:00 p.m. until timeMinute0Hour219:00 p.m. the town commission/board members will have their opportunity to ask questions and make comments. There will not be an opportunity this evening for direct public input. Mr. Merriam said that there will be additional pre-application meetings. The decision was made to start this process by having a relatively short presentation and let the elected/appointed officials ask questions and make comments. He said that they strongly encourage members of the public to send any written comments and questions to the Town Planner (Hiram Peck). Mr. Peck will consolidate those and send them over to the relevant commissions/boards as a package.

T. J. Donohue, Attorney, Killian, Donohue & Shipman, LLC, spoke briefly of the overview and who would be speaking this evening on the pre-application of Simsbury River Oaks at the industrial site of the CL&P property on Route 10 (south end). The River Oaks site is located on 60 acres in an area of mature development adjacent to the placeAvon town line on Route 10. This is the highest rated and highest quality site in placeCitySimsbury. It has access, infrastructure, sewer and water, great site conditions and topography. The location is excellent and is close to Route 44 in placeAvon. Attorney Donohue said that this proposal is for a mixed use development in the epicenter of a mixed use area. This site has the capacity for the greatest

Attorney Donohue said that the site development process was initiated by reviewing the town, the surrounding properties, tax policies, etc. They feel that their concept is in sync with the ideas of placeCitySimsbury, Simsbury Planning Commission and a large number of other residents. All of their research leads to the conclusion that a high quality mixed use neighborhood will thrive at this location. He said that Konover has retained nationally recognized experts. The team for Panel 1 includes Patrick Pinnell, Seth Harry, and Stanley Glantz who will discuss the concept of mixed use, TND, national trends and sustainability rationale. The team for Panel 2 includes Robert Golde, William Cone, and Anthony Amenta who will discuss the form of the mixed used design components, land plan, opportunities, buildings, structures, uses, functions and elevations. The team for Panel 3 includes Michael Klein (not able to attend this evening), Ted DeSantos, and Michelle Carlson who will discuss the site from an engineering point of view including land form, environmental conditions, infrastructure inventory, engineering consideration and the treatment for traffic in and on the site. The team for Panel 4 includes Donald Klepper-Smith and Seth Harry who will discuss the projected fiscal impact of Simsbury River Oaks.

Patrick Pinnell, Architect and Town Planner, based in the placeCityHartford area spoke on traditional neighborhood development beginning with the general patterns of life and how they played into American history beginning with 150 years ago after the Civil War up to current times. He spoke of steam power of 150 years ago, separation of uses of 100 years ago, retail industry of 50 years ago, and mixed use of 25 years ago. Mr. Pinnell said that now developers and retail people have recognized that the way of doing business that is essentially connected by car is no longer possible. He has been working with Konover for 1 ½ years on this current project. A walk-able neighborhood is being proposed for this 60.2 acre site.

Seth Harry, Seth Harry and Associates, Inc., Architects and Planners, said that his expertise is in consulting on retail components of new traditional neighborhood developments. He has been asked to look at, evaluate and comment on retail components for this project on their merits relative to the principals and ideals that T. J Donohue had mentioned in his opening remarks. He spoke of key market issues. The first was to look at Simsbury from a marketing perspective to see if the market is well served in the street market (Avon) and the second to develop two primary anchors (grocery store and a retail department store). He feels that this is a net positive opportunity for a workable, walkable neighborhood.

Stanley Glantz, Senior Vice President, Konover Development Corporation, said that there would be two key vehicle entries onto the Simsbury River Oaks property. One is the southern approach entry on route 10, which would be a round-about and the other is at an existing signal light at addressStreetOld Meadow Plain Road. He discussed the various mixed uses proposed for this site. There will be approximately 159,000 square feet of office space at this site with various size offices. All of the office buildings would be two to three stories. One of the proposed tenants for office space is St. Francis which would be located at the north end of the site. One of the retail stores proposed is a Target store that would be located in the south end of the site well off of route 10. Mr. Glantz said that there also would be minor retail stores to the north and west sides of the Target store, and also an placeInn to the east side of the Target store location. All of this would diminish the overall appearance of the Target store. Another proposed store is a specialty super market, and there also will be several restaurants. The total square footage of retail is 381,150 square feet (40% of entire site). The residential portion of the property is approximately 418,000 square feet with 210 residential units consisting of 12 single family homes along the rails to trails (far east section), 46 town homes comprised of about 1,500 square feet each, 12 empty nester units, etc.

Robert Golde, Towers Golde, LLC, Landscape Architect, said that they often practice in context sensitive site design. He was there to explain the “how” to go about fulfilling the objectives of the plan. Mr. Golde spoke of the site character, context and the conceptual plan. This is a 60 acre site fronting on Route 10 to the west, the Farmington Valley Greenway to the east and the placeAvon town line to the south. The main feature on the site is the existing CL&P maintenance facility that is located in the center of the site. They studied the existing context of the site. The site is considered an in-fill site as all the surrounding sites are

Bill Cone, Towers Golde, LLC, Landscape Architect, spoke on the Simsbury River Oaks pedestrian network. The pedestrian network consists of the streetscape that runs along either side of potentially every street in River Oaks, the crossing lines, and the connecter streets in between the buildings. There will be brick paving in many places. The pedestrian network will be separated by the curb and vehicle parking by a band of street trees, decorative benches, lighting and trash receptacles. The pedestrian network will embrace the rails to trails. Mr. Cone said that River Oaks will consist of approximately 10 acres of a variety of open space. The existing woodlands area will provide a naturalized open space area. A small park adjacent to the rails to trails will provide access to the trail as well as an amphitheater and a pond. There will be a heavily planted landscape buffer along Route 10 as well as a landscaped interior and perimeter parking lot islands. Mr. Cone also spoke briefly on the storm water landscape features explaining where they will integrate, within the parking areas and other strategic locations, vinyl swales and vinyl retention basins.

Anthony Amenta, Amenta Emma Architects, said that to start this project they had to ask themselves “what is placeCitySimsbury”. What does it mean to people who live here? They had to identify and capture this feeling. He described placeCitySimsbury as a very traditional town with traditional architecture. There are farms and there is also industry. His conclusion on what is unique about placeCitySimsbury is the conglomeration of all the different styles living happily right next to each other. He described (through the power point presentation) what River Oaks would look like architecturally.

Michelle Carlson, Associate Project Director, Fuss & O’Neill, said that the existing site is about 60 acres with the middle third occupied with the CL&P facility. There is 3,000 linear feet for frontage along Route 10, 2,300 linear feet of frontage on rails to trails, and the eastern end of the site on rails to trails is about 1,000 feet from the placePlaceNameFarmington PlaceTypeRiver. This site is 4.3 miles from the center of placeCitySimsbury, 1.1 mile from Route 44 in placeAvon and on the southern end of the site there is a 500 linear foot wetland/watercourse that consists of about .3 acres of wetlands. The topography of the site is pretty gentile. Ms. Carlson said that they have been having meetings with utility companies throughout this process. The existing infrastructure is in place to provide utility service for the development. They spoke and met with the Avon Water Company, Connecticut Natural Gas, Connecticut Light and Power, and the Simsbury Water Pollution Control Facility Superintendent. She said that there are two existing needed storm water discharge areas on the site. One on the south end and one on the north end and briefly explained how they discharge and where they flow. The proposed storm water management plan would collect the storm water via a combination of catch basins, grass, swales, rain gardens, and infiltrators. Ms. Carlson said that they have met with the DEP and Town of placeCitySimsbury staff members to discuss their storm water management point.

Ted DeSantos, Director of Transportation Services, Fuss & O’Neill, discussed the traffic impact study that they have conducted. He said that the purpose of a traffic study is to review the impact of the development site to traffic on all the roads and intersections near the site. The need is dictated by the Town’s Zoning Regulations. This sets the standard as to what the traffic study has to accomplish. The base line conditions before the project is constructed from a traffic operation standpoint must match the conditions after the project is completed. He said that the text of the regulation is to make sure that there is no change to the traffic operations. This is measured in the amount of delay that a driver would experience on going through any given intersection along Route 10. Mr. DeSantos said that they approached this project by going through the Town’s Design Guidelines, from Capitol Region Council of Government’s Regional Transportation Plan, and from the Connecticut Department of Transportation Policy for Route 10 in placeCitySimsbury. Mr. DeSantos said that they did traffic counts of existing conditions in the morning, afternoon and Saturday mid day peak periods. Those are the periods when commuter traffic is at their highest during the week and on weekends mid day. This is consistent with when the proposed mixed use project will also

have its highest generation of traffic. Mr. DeSantos said that the existing conditions on Route 10 on the average daily traffic is approximately 14,000 vehicles per day and the speed limit at the site is posted at 40 mph. After generating the amounts of projected traffic to be generated by the site, they developed a prescribed set of improvements to meet the guidelines of the Town’s Design Guidelines and the Regional Transportation Plan. The improvements they are proposing are able to maintain a single thru lane in each direction and the improvements that they are proposing can be accomplished on the property that is owned by this project. Mr. DeSantos said that they are proposing a roundabout intersection to maintain a single lane in each direction.

Don Klepper-Smith, Chief Economist & Director of Research, DataCore Partners, LLC, spoke of the projected fiscal impact study. This project will bring real and tangible benefits to the community. He spoke of $798,000 with the proposed residential buildout in 2010 and $3,000,000 for the proposed commercial portion of this project with a net fiscal benefit of $4,000,000 at full buildout. He said that these estimates are based upon conservative assumptions and the highest possible multipliers. Mr. Klepper-Smith said that his assessment as a professional is that this development makes sense from an economical standpoint.

Emil Dahlquist, Chairman, Design Review Board, extended an invitation to the River Oaks team to make at least two informal presentations before the Design Review Board prior to filing an application. He asked Patrick Pinnell or one of the land planners to comment on what determines the “why” and “what” specifically regarding the balance a good land planner uses to make distinctions between the carrying capacity of the land and the appropriate build out capacity. Attorney Donohue said that the immediate criteria for this 60 acre site is to look at the taxes for the site, the zone (industrial), site location, and infrastructure. The location is the front door of placeCitySimsbury. There are other office buildings within ½ mile of this site and there are condominium and apartments complexes around the site. He also discussed the proximity to Route 44 commenting that Route 44 is one of the five best retail corridors in placeStateConnecticut. Patrick Pinnell said that you start with good streets and public space with the height and content of buildings making good walkable space. Chairman Dahlquist asked as the land planner what did you see when you first stepped onto the property in terms of resources – visual and natural. What did you determine you wanted to work with and preserve and what were you willing to trade off for something else? Patrick Pinnell said that they want to preserve the view of the ridge line and the placePlaceNameHeublein PlaceTypeTower and to make this site a walkable environment.

Bill Gardner, Design Review Board, spoke of the application made seven or eight years ago to develop this same site. It was rejected because the building being proposed would be too close to the road and too high, so that the view of the ridge would be blocked. Will we be able to see the tower by more than just a shot? Will they show the Design Review Board this information at the Design Review Board’s meeting? The response was yes.

John Loomis, Chairman, Planning Commission, said with reference to the 1994 Plan of Conservation and Development, under Land Use, to what extent does the River Oaks proposal impact existing neighborhoods and existing businesses. Also, with reference to the 1994 Plan of Conservation and Development, to what extent is the River Oaks proposal of a scale that is in harmony with the community. Attorney Donohue said with respect to the streetscape design, the view shed and the streetscape along addressStreetHopmeadow Street will be on scale and size with all the immediately adjacent facing neighbors. The structures will be two to three times far away from Route 10 as the single family houses across the street. Attorney Donohue said that the parking along the majority of the site along Route 10 has been designed to be pretty much consistent with the banks of parking owned and operated by the Town of placeCitySimsbury as the addressStreetIron Horse Boulevard parking facility. They have the same scale, design and depth and enhanced landscaping. Attorney Donohue discussed the two office structures in the north end of the site. He said that they are designed to be consistent with the office structures at the Nolan property and other properties immediately adjacent and north. The design of the buildings honors the scale and scope of the neighborhood businesses adjacent to it.

Brad Mead, Planning Commission, asked if Konover plans to build the entire project in one phase or in multiple phases. If in multiple phases, are the subsequent phases subject to the economic success of the earlier phases. T. J. Donohue said that Konover is very pleased with the interest in the project across the board. They expect to come out with this project all at one time, but also expect to make provisions through the approval process that will set forth in detailed approval the parameters as to how it will come forward. Mr. Mead paraphrased the answer by saying that Konover’s intent, subsequent to hearings from different Board’s and their approvals is the entire project will be built at the same time. He asked if there is any opportunity for this project to end up being half built because of economic reasons. Attorney Donohue said that this is a great opportunity and a great investment. Konover stands behind this project.

Sue Bednarcyk, Planning Commission, asked to what extent they have met economic impact numbers keeping into consideration that some smaller placeCitySimsbury stores will probably have to close, and also the elimination of Northeast Utilities from the tax rolls. Donald Klepper-Smith said that the removal of CL&P was considered in their fiscal impact analysis. He also explained that fiscal impact analysis is different from economic impact analysis. Fiscal impact analysis gives them the direct revenues and direct expenses associated with this project in placeCitySimsbury. Seth Harry said that there are different strategies that one can use to minimize the net impact on existing businesses in the community. One is the collection of retailers (the mix) to be tailored to address a specific market demand within the center. He said that you cannot duplicate the unique center of placeCitySimsbury. By virtue of the anchor tenants currently proposed, this will allow them the ability to bring in new small store opportunities.

Ernie Gardow, Planning Commission, said considering the mixed use proposal for River Oaks where residential is mixed with big box retail, it would seem that this would make the marketing of the residential units at a disadvantage because of the proximity to the large retail stores. He asked if they have studied this particular issue with regard to the marketability to residential. Seth Harry said that the plan currently on the table is consistent with the best practices examples of this type of development in other parts of the country.

Jim Gallagher, Zoning Commission, asked if the round-about has been approved by the Department of Transportation, and what was the thinking about putting houses along the pedestrian path. Patrick Pinnell said that the houses built along the pedestrian path would have the best views and also have interesting proximity to the people on rails to trails. The houses will have very high return on value. Ted DeSantos said the Department of Transportation has not approved the round-about at this time due to the fact that it is early in the process from a transportation stand point. He has had preliminary meetings with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the Capitol Region Council of Governments, and the State Traffic Commission. They have not made their application to the state yet.

Austin Barney, Chairman, Zoning Commission, said for a pedestrian friendly environment he is concerned about the 2,600 parking spaces on the plan. He asked if they will consider subsurface or structured parking. Attorney Donohue said that structured parking would be an economic consideration. Patrick Pinnell said that the continuity of the pedestrian friendly experience is seeing something interesting along side the walk ways between the gaps that are caused by parking spaces.

Charles Houlihan, Planning Commission, asked what other projects have had a large format retail store in close proximity to newly built homes. Patrick Pinnell said that a parallel project would be Kentlands located in placeCityGaithersburg, StateMaryland. Commissioner Houlihan also asked where they could find a roundabout similar to the one shown in the plan. Ted DeSantos spoke of a roundabout under construction in placeCityWest Haven, StateConnecticut. He said that there are roundabouts located in placeCityWindsor, placeCityCoventry, etc. He said that roundabouts lower the speed and there is a much flatter angle to the intersections.

Alexis Popik, Zoning Commission, asked that Konover address the question of high end residential in close proximity to big box stores such as Target. The only example given was placeCityGaithersburg, StateMaryland. She asked that they site examples in placeStateConnecticut where there exists the type of growth that would mandate such a large scale development. She asked if they had done any needs assessment on this kind of housing and the

number of units that are planned. Attorney Donohue said that all the marketing research done shows this type of development as extremely desirable. This location in placeCitySimsbury is extremely desirable. He also pointed out the success of placePlaceNameWest Hartford PlaceTypeCenter. Seth Harry said that placeCityGaithersburg, StateMaryland had been mentioned as this is one of the earliest and most successful mixed use developments implemented. It has a good track record.

Austin Barney, Chairman, Zoning Commission, asked if this type of project would work without Target. In lieu of that, possibly attracting other small retailers. Attorney Donohue said simply no. He said for them to do the best possible project they wanted to get the best general merchandise retailer. Target was the best choice and the key component. Seth Harry said that Route 44 has changed the consumer market by raising the threshold in the market place for small retail stores. Chairman Barney asked, outside of retail, are there any other uses that would be compatible in a mixed use community that would attract people. A library was suggested.

John Loomis, Chairman, Planning Commission said referencing the 1994 Plan of Conservation and Development to what extent is the River Oaks proposal of a scale that is in harmony with the community. Attorney Donohue said that this is consistent with the 1994 Plan of Conservation and Development. Patrick Pinnell said that this will be a place that people will like or not like. River Oaks echoes the walk ability of placePlaceNameSimsbury PlaceTypeCenter.

Susan Bednarcyk, Planning Commission, asked how does the square footage of retail pertain to the traffic numbers and also without the roundabout would Route 10 remain a 2-lane road. Ted DeSantos spoke of trip generations and percentages for morning, afternoon and Saturday’s. Ted DeSantos said without the roundabout the road would have to have signalized intersections. Seth Harry said that signals reduce the through capacity of traffic by 50%.

Mark Drake, Planning Commission, asked if there has been any consideration to the condos and the apartments existing on the west side of Route 10 and their having access to the River Oaks site. A panel member said that they want to encourage pedestrian traffic coming from adjacent offsite locations. A question was asked as to how this happens when you do not have a traffic light. Ted DeSantos said that there will be a cross walk to the roundabout. A roundabout is intended to slow traffic down.