Avon Planning Commission closes hearing on Deercliff Road ridgeline special permit, seeks more data on tree removal, impervious surface and FVHD testing

The Avon Planning and Zoning Commission on April 21 heard a special permit application from Ferguson Land Development LLC seeking permission to construct a house within the Ridgeline Protection Overlay Zone (RPOZ) at 565 and 585 Deercliff Road.

Chair Lisa Levin opened the hearing and reviewed the governing standards — the conventional special permit rules (sec. 7.1C) and the RPOZ criteria in Section 3.5, which aim to protect traprock ridges for their environmental, groundwater-recharge and visual resources. Architect Jack Kemper, landscape architect John Stewart and engineer David Whitney presented the proposal on behalf of owner Ryan Ferguson.

Stewart displayed a color-coded tree removal plan showing roughly 25% of on-site trees proposed for removal; he said a portion of those removals lie within the regulated RPOZ setback. He described a three-layer planting approach (canopy, understory and lower-level plantings) and said proposed native replacements include cherries, dogwoods and mountain laurel to soften the site. "Many of the pines on the site are in very poor condition," Planning Director Hiram Peck, a licensed arborist, told the commission.

Whitney summarized an Aquifer Recharge Impact Study and described a development footprint of about two acres with six acres remaining pervious; rain gardens will retain stormwater on site, and Whitney said chemical threats from lawn care would fall below thresholds in Town and DEEP manuals. He also acknowledged his report may not match the conventional meaning of a multi-year "study," describing it instead as an impact assessment conducted for this application.

Commissioners pushed for alternatives that would minimize cuts into the ridgeline and reduce lawn area in favor of native groundcovers. Chair Levin and others asked whether the entire plan could be pulled back outside the 150-foot RPOZ line; applicant representatives said moving the house to that location could require relocating the septic system to areas that may not pass percolation tests and could increase disturbance elsewhere on the site.

On public-health questions, Levin noted earlier staff comments that there was "no lead or asbestos" on site and reviewed FVHD materials now in the record. Owner Ryan Ferguson said asbestos had been found, abated last year, retested with no asbestos detected, and that subsequent lead testing showed levels below remediation thresholds; the Farmington Valley Health District (FVHD) issued a demolition permit. "There was asbestos and it was removed," Ferguson said; Commissioner Baran and others requested direct clarification from FVHD for the record. Public commenter Pam Lefever of 595 Deercliff said the phrase "removed" was unclear and cited personal experience with lead-related harm to a child.

Before taking a vote the commission closed the public hearing subject to four items being added to the record: (1) clarification from FVHD on lead; (2) the net impervious surface difference between the 2015 approval and the current plan; (3) revised house layout/placement pulling as much as possible back from the 150-foot line and ensuring no new work sits inside the 75-foot line; and (4) a breakdown of square-footage differences between the 2015 plan and the current proposal. The commission will consider a vote at a future meeting after those items are provided.

The hearing drew extensive discussion of tradeoffs between protecting the traprock ridge and avoiding greater disturbance from relocating septic and other infrastructure. The applicant said roughly five of the eight acres will remain undisturbed forest and habitat. The commission emphasized its authority under the RPOZ and Chapter 4 of the town's POCD to require reduced lawn areas and substantive habitat restoration where trees are removed.

Next steps: the PZC will make the requested items part of the record and resume consideration of App. #5084 at a subsequent meeting; no final permit decision was made on April 21.