In Newtown, a battle for harmony between history and development

NEWTOWN — A Brookfield architect proposing a three-story apartment building on the border of Newtown’s historic South Main Street was generally amenable to multiple design change requests by a voluntary advisory board earlier this month.

Then came a request by the chair of Newtown’s Design Advisory Board to cover the façade of the apartment building in red brick, mimicking the Federal style of the old state hospital buildings on the town’s Fairfield Hills campus.

That’s where architect Robert Sherwood drew the line.

“I’m not going to make the building Federal style but (I’m) open to adding stone on the front facade and a stone wall along South Main Street,” Sherwood told the advisory board during a meeting last week.

Design Advisory Board Chair Agni Kyprianou responded with a halfdozen changes she expected to see in Sherwood’s design for 27 apartments on a residential lot at the foot Newtown’s historic stretch of Colonial and Victorian homes:

⏩ cover the two vertical portions of the front of the building in stone veneer

⏩ add a stone wall along the South Main Street

⏩ leave the name of the apartment project off the sign; only use the street number

⏩ break up the building to look more like individual structures by using different siding

⏩ change the building color scheme to be in line with the stone or brick to be used

The other two members of the Design Advisory Board agreed, leaving Sherwood to return to the group once his application with the Planning and Zoning Commission is complete.

The battle for harmony between economic development and South Main Street’s New England charm is not the only source of conflict in Newtown about Sherwood’s plans to convert a singlefamily home on a 1.6-acre lot at Boroughs Lane into a mix of one-, two- and threebedroom apartments, with 50 parking spaces.

Neighbors have voiced concerns about the project being too dense for the residential character of South Main Street, and adding too much congestion to Route 25.

Sherwood argues that while the property does border a stretch of singlefamily homes to the north, it’s also at the gate of a commercial zone going south that includes for former Amaral Motors dealership, a fabric store, a strip mall, and a Walgreens.

Newtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission closed its public hearing on Sherwood’s project last week, setting the stage for a vote at its next meeting.