The Newtown Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a zone change for town-owned industrial land that would pave the way for a developer to build 170 age-restricted apartments for seniors.   Newtown has been trying to sell a 42-acre property on Commerce Road for two decades. 

Teton Capital Co. of Old Greenwich will develop eight acres, with the balance of the property preserved as open space.  The parcel is next to the 34-acre Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit founded in the memory of a girl killed on 12/14. 

The next step is for the developer to submit a detailed site plan so the land use agency can analyze issues such as traffic, safety and aesthetics.  Preliminary plans call for three- to four-story apartment buildings, with parking underneath in order to preserve as much of the open land as possible. 

A driveway from Commerce Road to both the development and the animal sanctuary will be created, with the developer and the nonprofit splitting the cost.