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Essex Preserve Development Back on Table

OLD SAYBROOK - Try, try again. Facing obstacles in Old Saybrook to a larger scale project at its Preserve property, River Sound Development is trying a new approach. This time the developer hopes to gain town approval of a six-lot conservation subdivision on 36 of the 63 acres of Preserve land River Sound owns in Essex. The proposed development would be on Essex's Ingham Hill Road and would end in a cul-de-sac near the Old Saybrook town line.

River Sound's previously approved Old Saybrook subdivision and open space plan recognized the dirt road extension of the paved Ingham Hill Road as part of the larger project's trail system.

For this proposal for an isolated conservation subdivision within the Town of Essex, River Sound has applied for subdivision approval to the Essex Planning Commission. The commission accepted for review River Sound's application at its Feb. 16 meeting. The commission plans to hold a Public Hearing on the application April 19.

The land generally known as The Preserve is an undeveloped parcel of more than 1,000 acres that straddles three town lines-Essex, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook-but that lies mostly within the Town of Old Saybrook. This proposed project, if approved, is planned solely for the Essex portion of the larger parcel. Because the project is close to the town line, however, the project has been referred for comment to the adjacent town and regional planning agency.

Under state law, any proposed site plan or subdivision within 500 feet of a town line must be referred to the regional planning agency and to the adjacent town for comment.

In this case, the Essex Planning Commission has referred River Sound's subdivision application to the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency (CRERPA), the regional planning agency, and to the Town of Old Saybrook. Under state law, CRERPA and Old Saybrook's Planning Commission can only comment on the project's potential inter-municipal impacts on traffic and stormwater.

To respond to the project referral from Essex, the Old Saybrook Planning Commission was scheduled to discuss the potential inter-municipal impacts of the River Sound subdivision application at its March 7 meeting (after press time).