Politics & Government

Oxford Greens Zone Change Proposals Raise Eyebrows

Public hearing brings close to 200 people to Town Hall last week.

Two proposed zone changes in the residential golf community district have caused concerns among residents of the district's 55 and older development about how those changes could affect their community.

Specifically, many residents fear the proposed changes could have adverse effects on their home values and their quality of life, which most people, regardless of whether they support or decry the proposed zone changes, seem to enjoy at the community.

If approved, the proposed changes would lead to proposals to build multifamily homes in the village, and a separate plan to build 100 non age-restricted housing units just outside of the Village at Oxford Greens.

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Close to 200 people, some for and many against the two plans, sat or stood shoulder-to-shoulder at Town Hall to hear more about

What the Developers Say About the Multifamily Home Proposal

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The first public hearing on Thursday was held by Timberlake Development, which has been involved with the Oxford Greens project since the start of the project in 1997.

The company’s proposal calls for addition of language in the residential golf community district zoning laws that would allow for "attached (homes that share a wall with another home), single-family dwellings not to exceed four units per buildings on land only in common interest ownership. The number of such units shall not exceed 50 percent of the maximum number of dwelling units allowed under the density calculation (that is currently allowed)." Current regulations only allow for single-family dwellings in the residential golfing community district.

All told, 151 homes would be built in the next phase of Timberlake's development, which would begin immediately following site plan approval. Currently, there are 18 single family homes left to be sold in the village.

Andrew Tedford, a managing member of Timberlake Development, said the idea of attached properties is to be meet the demands of the market, which is calling for double, triple and quadruple family homes. He pointed to similar developments in a 55 and older community in Prospect which have outsold the Village at Oxford Greens by wide margins in the past two years.

“Timberlake has always planned to make changes based on the market, and this is what the market calls for,” he said, adding that some neighboring communities have approved both attached and detached homes in their 55 and older communities.

A diversity of housing choices will provide more value to the current homes, and will expose Oxford Greens to a new pool of buyers, Tedford said.

“Simply stated, Timberlake feels that in order to be successful in the future, another housing choice is needed,” he said.

The new homes would sell for between $300,000 and $350,000 apiece, compared to the current detached homes - there are 321 occupied in Oxford Greens - which sold on average last year for $430,000, Timberlake officials said.

And, in contrast to claims some have made about how attached homes were never considered for development in the village, Tedford said every person who has bought a home there since it was developed has signed a contract that specifically states “detached and attached homes could be built.”

Tedford also responded to claims made by some residents that Timberlake was trying to bribe the residents by offering them $400,000 to fix their clubhouse. He said, unequivocally, that was not the case.

“We listened to the residents and we realized there are concerns that this could lead to increased usage of the (golf course) clubhouse,” he said. “We realize that upgrades to the clubhouse could benefit all current and future residents of Oxford Greens, so we said that we’re willing to make a financial commitment sooner. It certainly was not a bribe.”

What Residents Are Saying About the Multifamily Plan

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Alan Goldstone asked residents to tell the commission, through a show of hands, whether or not they supported the project. Roughly 75 percent of people raised their hands to indicate they were against the plan.

Attorney Francis T. Collins, who represented himself as a homeowner in the village and said he was not acting in a legal role, said the original intent of the P&Z Commission’s residential golf community district was to have detached homes.

Oxford Greens resident Rick Volo said he and his neighbors chose the more expensive Oxford Greens over Meadowbrook Estates (a 55 and older development on the opposite side of town) because they liked the quality of life and the separate units Oxford Greens offered.

“There are a lot of people sitting in their homes right now wishing they could be in Oxford Greens,” he said. “This is a community, it’s a lifestyle and if we keep the community/lifestyle the way it is now, a lot of people are going to be better off.”

Still, there were some who supported the Timberlake plan on Thursday.

Oxford Greens resident Richard Larson submitted a petition with 179 signatures from his neighbors who supported the plan. (Note: For perspective's sake, there are slightly more than 600 people living in the village.)

Larson said that although some residents are concerned about increased use of their clubhouse if the multifamily homes are built, that would happen anyway because the overall plan for Oxford Greens calls for roughly 900 homes.

And Oxford Greens resident Anthony Urso said that since the market is calling for attached homes, it makes sense to build them so they can be sold faster. He noted some areas of Oxford Greens have been under construction for several years, and that selling homes quicker means construction crews will disappear sooner.

“There is a change in the market, and Timberlake is trying to meet that change,” he said. “If this project is built in a reasonable time period, it will lead to an additional three-quarters of a million dollars in taxes to the town. I urge the commission to carefully consider this.”

What’s Next?

The proposal already has a positive referral from the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley, which states in a letter to the P&Z Commission that "the result of the proposal could be more clustered development that reduces impervious surface area and increase open space."

P&Z Commissioners have not given their opinion about the proposal at this point. The commission has continued its public hearing until June 2 at 7:35 p.n. at Town Hall.

Until then, Robert J. Smith, Jr., managing member of Timberlake Development, said the company is willing to spend time to address and, hopefully, alleviate concerns of residents.

A Place in the Golf District for People Younger Than 55

A proposal by Peter Gelderman of Quatrella and Rizio, LLC, of Fairfield, calls for no more than 100 non-age restricted, market-rate dwellings within the golf community district.

The homes currently within the residential golf community district are in a 55 and older community. The Village at Oxford Greens has sold 320 single family homes - most of which have fetched at least $350,000 - and has land use approval for almost 600 more. The town has welcomed the development, mostly because it has pumped more than $2 million a year into local tax coffers. The residents also need few services as they pay for most of them through common fees. Also, most of the residents do not have school-aged children, who cost the town about $11,000 apiece to educate.

Residents fear that removing the age-restriction on new homes will likely bring more children into the community's schools, including those at the elementary and middle school levels which officials say are already cramped.

Developer Glenn Tatangelo, managing partner with CT Realty Investment Group, said similar projects that he’s completed in other Connecticut towns have not overburdened their respective school districts.

For example, he points to Trumbull, where he says a similar-sized project that he built has brought just eight children to the local school system. He said the project has also brought in $390,000 in annual tax revenue, and that it costs about $11,000 a year to educate a child in Trumbull, a number that is similar to what it costs in Oxford. That leaves a $302,000 net positive in annual tax revenue from the project, he said.

“Now, the town of Trumbull is saying, ‘How can we build more of these?’ because this is a winner,” he said. “…When we first proposed a project like this in Westport, they said to me, ‘Maybe you just don’t get it.’ I said, ‘Mark my words: By the time I’m done with this project, you will say you want other projects to look like ours.’ And that’s what they say now.”

P&Z Commissioner Pat Cocchiarella said he would like to see hard evidence to back up Tatangelo’s claims about school children and tax revenue from the Trumbull project. Tatangelo said he’d bring it to the commission at its next public hearing on June 2.

Tatangelo also said he plans to appeal to people who want to live in Oxford but cannot afford it. He said a number of people have told him they’d like for their children to live in Oxford, where they grew up, but their children just cannot afford homes in town. The proposed homes in the non age-restricted development, which would each have three bedrooms, would sell for between $300,000 and $325,000, Tatangelo said.

Theodore Dutton of Putting Green Lane gave the commission 419 signed petitions from residents of Oxford Greens who are against the project.

“We feel that it would set a bad precedent,” he said.

Town Planner Brian Miller has put together a list of questions that he wants Tatangelo and his partners to answer. That list was given to the developers on the night of the first public hearing (Thursday), so the P&Z Commission is giving them time to respond. The public hearing was continued to June 2 at Town Hall.

Several Conditions to Proposal

The following conditions must be adhered to in the proposal to build homes that would not be age restricted, according to the application on file at Town Hall. The following conditions have been taken verbatim from the application:

  • Density within the area designated for unrestricted units shall not exceed 80 percent of the density otherwise permitted in the residential golf community district, or RGCD;
  • Any area within a RGCD that is designated to permit unrestricted dwelling units shall be identified on the zoning map of the RGCD and shall contain a minimum of 50 acres. No more than one unrestricted area shall be permitted in any RGCD. All such unrestricted dwelling units shall be located in the designated area, and the designated area shall be used exclusively for unrestricted units.
  • Any designated unrestricted area within a RGCD shall include an area designated for passive recreation, such as open space, water body or other natural resource. Such passive recreation area, regardless of the total acreage of the unrestricted area or the number of unrestricted dwelling units shall contain at least 15 acres and shall not be restricted to use by residents within the RGCD.
  • Any designated unrestricted area within a RGCD shall have a minimum of 750 feet of frontage on an existing public road and shall have access from such public road which access shall not be shared with any development or area within the RGCD, not part of the designated unrestricted area.
  • No attached dwelling units shall be permitted within the designated unrestricted area of a RGCD.


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