On Tuesday there was another round in the battle over a potential housing development in Avon.
There was a second part of a public hearing for a needed zone change.
The developer argues this is good project for the town but neighbors are fiercely opposed.
“They don’t make any more land. And I come from a farm background,” said John Clark of Avon.
Clark tells us he lives near where dozens of homes could be built off of Nod Road.
Backlash has been intense to the proposal and led to the creation of a group called “Save Nod Road.”
“It’s a beautiful road and we don’t need any more houses. We got 95 I think they are proposing. There’s enough houses already,” said Clark.
There are concerns about traffic and the environment if the development was built on about 40 acres of a golf course near the Farmington River.
And there are other worries.
“My question is really how are they going to handle the amount of people in a small area with sewer and water usage?” said Carl Gisnarian of Avon.
The developer – The Keystone Companies – is pushing back.
“Quite candidly had I thought this would have been this crazy I probably would have second guessed myself,” said Anthony Giorgio, The Keystone Companies managing director.
Giorgio points out 80 percent of the total site would be protected from future development.
He says there are other benefits for the community including preserving the golf course, a more than one-million dollar boost in tax money and improved traffic in the area, with one key feature kept.
“The entire streetscape of Nod Road will be preserved. There will be no change when you drive up and down Nod Road,” Giorgio said.
On Tuesday, the developer asked for the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve rezoning land to residential, while opponents argue it should be kept agricultural.
The conversation will continue at the next meeting in two weeks.
