Developer Resubmits Mobile Home Park Application

A development company that wants to build a mobile home park on 40 acres located at Hurley Road, Donovan Road and Airport Access Road in Oxford has resubmitted a plan to construct 126 mobile manufactured homes on the property.

Garden Homes Management Corp. is seeking a determination from the Oxford Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands Agency that certain activities proposed at the property in conjunction with the development of a mobile home park pursuant to Connecticut General Statute 8-30g are not subject to inland wetlands and watercourses regulations or the jurisdiction of the Oxford Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands Agency, according to its application on file at Town Hall.

Discussion about the Garden Homes plan, which is now officially called "Oxford Commons: A Garden Homes Management Community," has been ongoing for more than five years in Oxford. The development was denied by the wetlands agency and Planning & Zoning Commission in 2007. Garden Homes, a Stamford-based company, opposed the denial in court, and a superior court judge agreed with the wetlands denial but overturned the Planning & Zoning denial, saying essentially there is a need for affordable housing in Oxford.

The Garden Homes plan will be on the Oxford Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands Agency agenda for the July 23 meeting, said Inland Wetlands Enforcement Officer Andrew Ferrillo. He said he’s not sure what type of discussion there will be at this point. 

On Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to hire a land use attorney, Peter Olsen out of Bethel, for $190 an hour to work with the land use department. Olsen will assist the Planning & Zoning Commission in drafting affordable housing regulations and thoroughly reviewing 8-30g applications, such as the Garden Homes plan.

First Selectman George Temple, who recommended hiring Olsen to help the land use department, said Wednesday, “We’re not trying to defeat anything, we’re just trying to make sure all plans conform with our regulations and state statutes.”