NEWTOWN – A New York developer has the green light to build 120 apartments with affordable units near the high school in Sandy Hook and the town will receive a $350,000 check to pay for sidewalks under a settlement that ends a 14-month legal battle.

“I’m pleased that the Planning and Zoning Commission has been able to negotiate what appears to be an agreement with Vessel regarding its 8-30g application,” said Newtown’s top elected leader, Bruce Walczak, referring to the section of a state law that gives developers broad protections against routine denial when they set aside 30 percent of a project as affordable.

“Reaching an agreement is almost always a better outcome than pursuing legal action,” Walczak told Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday. “While this development is not universally popular, having a meaningful role in shaping its design features has hopefully made the project more acceptable to the residents who live closest to the site.”

Newtown’s settlement with Vessel Technologies, which is yet to be formalized in state Superior Court, shaves 16 apartments off the developer’s original 136-unit plan for a 5-acre property at Berkshire and Oakview roads that Newtown denied in February 2025.

“I think that 8-30g applications put towns in a very awkward position where we don’t have the normal give-and-take or local control that we would in normal applications for housing of this type. And as such I think one of the primary duties of a commission is to try to get the best deal and the most benefit for the public through a negotiation process before the development inevitably comes to be,” said Peter Schwarz, a member of Newtown’s Planning and Zoning Commission who voted in the 4-to-1 majority to approve the settlement on May 21. “I think is a good benefit for the community – something we can point to that may balance out a little bit of the reluctance we would otherwise have to approve a development like this.”

An attorney representing the Manhattan developer agreed.

“(O)nce we sign this … this is it,” said Meaghan Miles. “We’re moving on from here.”

Vessel’s settlement with Newtown is similar to a Vessel settlement over a contested apartment house project in Bethel, which a state judge approved in January. Just like the Newtown case, Vessel appealed Bethel’s denial of a 75-unit building with affordable apartments. Just like the Newtown case, Vessel offered to shave a few units off and pay Bethel $350,000 to use for sidewalk improvements. Just like the Newtown case, Bethel Planning and Zoning Commission members said Bethel was better off having negotiated concessions from Vessel.

Newtown’s settlement with Vessel comes at a time when developers and residents are appealing housing decisions by Newtown’s land use commissions in five cases in state court – including an appeal by developer Stephen Shapiro over Newtown’s denial of a 300-apartment development with affordable units.

Not all Newtown commissioners were on board with the Vessel settlement.

Commission member Roy Meadows said he opposed signing the agreement with Vessel because the deal didn’t go far enough to protect public safety. Meadows said there needed to be a sidewalk to connect the two apartment buildings, even if the grade was steep.

“I think this is a huge safety issue,” Meadows said during the May 21 meeting.

“My recollection is that the walkway, due to changes in the grade between the north building and the south building, it is not safe to put a sidewalk, especially for [federal handicap accessibility law] purposes,” said Miles, the developer’s attorney.

“Well, that’s what was initially said but then we talked about that,” Meadows argued.

“I don’t believe we came to an agreement on the walkway,” the attorney said.

“Well, I’m going to have trouble with this … until we resolve the sidewalk,” Meadows said.

“I believe if it wasn’t on this plan the walkway was not feasible,” said Miles.