Community Corner

Commission Rejects Golf Club's Proposal to Rezone Open Space Land

The Golf Club of Avon planned to sell about five acres of land to a real estate developer, but the houses cannot be built without the zone change.

Update, July 17, 10:08 p.m.

The Planning and Zoning Commission rejected the zone change at its Tuesday meeting.

The subdivision was not approved.

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Original Story

About five acres of recreational open space land may be sold to real estate developer Jon Zieky so he can build five single-family homes on it and a sixth nearby.

Find out what's happening in Avonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The Golf Club of Avon has identified this as a surplus piece of property," Avon Town Planner Steven Kushner said Tuesday.

Each Eagle View Estates home will go on the market for about $1 million, Kushner said. But before development can take place, the golf club needs approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone the land as residential (R40) and to allow a five-lot subdivision for the homes.

The commission is slated to review the applications at its meeting on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

However, the five acres are not accessible from any public roads, so Zieky is looking to buy the tail end of private road Woodland Drive, owned by Steven Kulikowski, and build a new public road. Eagle Drive, the small road proposed, would intersect with Oak Ridge Drive and Pioneer Drive and be about 22 feet wide and 700 feet long. In the 1950s there were plans discussed to connect the Woodland with Pioneer, however that never happened, Kushner said. So, in a way, if the application is approved, it's as though the "master plan from the '50s is being fulfilled," he said.

Zieky also plans to purchase an undeveloped lot on the rear side of Pioneer Drive to build a sixth single-family home. The commission approved development on the lot in the 1960s, but the current owner hasn't built anything on it.

Public town of Avon open space tends to remain undeveloped because of deed restrictions and the municipality's choice to keep it that way. By comparison, if the golf club was town-owned, it's possible the town could apply to rezone the open space because the town of Avon is subect to the same regulations as private property owners. However, it would be rare for town open space to be sold to a developer, Kushner said.

The privately owned golf course's designation as "open space" may be misleading, Kushner said.

"There are no guarantees it will be rezoned, but there are also no guarantees the land will always be open space," Kushner said.

Recreational open space land allows for operation of the fairways, a driving range, tennis courts, a clubhouse and maintenance buildings, for instance, but not a residential, industrial or commercial subdivision, however, that can be permitted if the zone is changed to R40, Kushner said. An R40 zone allows housing lots that are a minimum of 40,000 square feet in land, just under an acre, he added.

The Planning and Zoning Commission doesn't approve zone changes lightly and will review the applications thoroughly, Kushner said. However, that does not mean zone changes of this magnitude haven't happened.

In 1997, Blue Fox Run, a private golf course in Avon owned by 5th Congressional District candidate Lisa Wilson Foley's, applied to rezone 15 acres of its land from agricultural to office park. The commission approved the application. Three office buildings have been built on the Nod Road land since, Kushner said, including a satellite medical office for Saint Francis.

Further up Route 44, a former Canton golf course was rezoned to make way for what is now the Shoppes of the Farmington Valley.

"This isn't really that dramatic," Kushner said.

Neighbors living near the proposed development are encouraged to attend the Planning and Zoning meeting Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen's Conference Room in Town Hall, Building One for an opportunity to learn more information and ask questions. The meeting is open to the public.


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