Sharon IWWC considers applicationfor new development on Low Road

SHARON — The fate of an application to create an office space, retail facility and gallery remains undecided after a public hearing at the Feb. 10 meeting of Sharon’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Commission.

Low Road Sharon, the applicant, is a non-profit that will run an artist residency program planned on Jasper Johns’ Sharon property.

The project involves a new development on property that is owned by Low Road Sharon, but is auxiliary to Johns’ main estate. The proposed construction site sits at the addresses of 1, 15 and 29 Low Road, adjacent to the shopping plaza on North Main Street.

An application for this project was submitted to the IWWC in the fall of 2024. It was ultimately denied by the commission at its Dec. 12 meeting, but with a note that the applicant may reapply. The proposed building site sits on a gradient above a stream, and several commission members expressed a desire to see alternative building strategies explored in the plans.

IWWC accepted the applicant’s resubmission at its Jan. 13 meeting, and set a public hearing as the proposed development was deemed a “significant activity.”

Jim McTigue of New Milford-based firm Howland & Associates presented the amended application at the Feb. 10 public hearing, highlighting the downscaled nature of the new proposal, including relocating and sizing down the north building.

McTigue emphasized erosion control measures on the slope above the stream, as well as the elimination of a pathway that had previously been planned to be located close to the waterway.

McTigue maintained that the development will remain consistent with the residential nature of the street.

Commissioners and members of the public levied questions regarding the extent and duration of disturbance during construction, the two planned construction vehicle entrances, erosion control and site drainage and the use of a proposed pathway that would be directed toward Lovers Lane.

After closing the hearing, members of the Commission decided to table the matter for further review.

IWWC will resume discussion of the application at its next meeting, which is scheduled for March 10.