Opinion: Town Center: Revitalization or Urbanization?

A Letter to the Editor from Victor Bucci, Brookfield, Conn.

In July 2015, the Planning Commission released its latest Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) outlining the public preference for the Four Corners Town Center to be made up of two story buildings. Despite all of the studies, all of the citizen surveys, and all the promises of a New England style village setting, the Zoning Commission will have to consider a high rise building that may be more suitable for the Bronx rather than Brookfield.

2015 Brookfield Plan of Conservation and Development Effective July 2, 2015 Pages | 60-61

Guiding Design Principles: [taken from Four Corners POCD - quote pages 60-61]

• ∙ Public preference is for buildings to be up to two-stories in height
• ∙ Primary buildings should be oriented to the street and meet the sidewalk there; sidewalks should be provided as part of site design
• ∙ Building design should be ‘traditional’ for New England; not uniformly New England Colonial – some diversity of architecture is desirable but all should be complementary to traditional New England themes
• ∙ Separation of buildings along the street may be minimized to achieve a sense of neighborhood and place
• ∙ Parking should be located behind buildings
• ∙ Sites should have internal pedestrian ways, pedestrian respite areas, and bicycle access as well as pedestrian and bicycle connections to adjoining parcels
• ∙ Sites should have no more than one curb-cut onto Federal Road with shared access among adjoining parcels; alternate or primary access to Station Road is encouraged
• ∙ Sites design should include some green/public spaces and access ways to trails and greenways
• ∙ Site design should include both interior and perimeter landscaping, including shade trees; notable existing natural features such as mature trees should be preserved
• ∙ Impervious surface area should be minimized (end quote)

The Zoning Commission allows three stories for mixed use buildings. “Subsequently more zoning regulation changes permitted apartments on the second and third floors of mixed use buildings.” [POCD page 74]

There will be two public hearings:

1- Brookfield Zoning Commission Public Hearing November 12, 2015, 7:30 pm Town Hall - Room #133 –create a new “Residential-Rental Housing Opportunity/ Workforce Zone.” Zoning Regulation Change – new zone R-RHOW

Brookfield Zoning Commission -PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO BROOKFIELD ZONING REGULATIONS

2 - Brookfield Zoning Commission Public Hearing November 19, 2015, 7:30 pm Town Hall - Room #133 – “The Renaissance” 156 residential units – 6 stories – 4.55 acres*

* Tax Assessor List shows 4.27 acres - http://gis.vgsi.com/brookfieldct/Streets.aspx

“The Renaissance” will be built on the site of the Main Street Marketplace (777 Federal Road) and a newer adjacent building (763 Federal Road). It will consist of a six story apartment building 30% of which will be low and moderate income apartments. The building will contain 156 residential units. There will be 20 studio apartments, 96 one bedroom apartments, and 40 two bedroom apartments. The site has less than five acres of land.”

The original plan for the Four Corners is explained in a Danbury “News-Times” article written by Nanci Hutson.

Some of the considerations for the approval of the project will be the cell tower adjacent to the property as well as the proximity of the Still River.

Brookfield Zoning Commission members can’t ignore the fact that more Federal Road valuable commercial property might become residential and add some children to the school population. Commercial property makes Brookfield more affordable for all citizens. For example, the property tax on the Costco/Union Savings Bank site is over $325,000. This site contributes no children to the schools and makes few demands on the town.

2015 Plan of Conservation and Development [page 8 quote]

“A fixed factor in Brookfield’s population and housing market growth is the amount of available land for development. Only 9 percent of the Town’s land is vacant or undeveloped. Currently, residential properties account for 48.8 percent of the town’s land; business and light industrial use accounts for 4.8 percent; public and institutional land use represents 2.4 percent; and 24.4 percent is public land—with 17.5 percent designated as open space. Rounding out the land use composite is the 10.5 percent of Brookfield’s area that is used by utilities and transportation infrastructure, as well as bodies of water.”

A serious issue is so called “spot zoning”. Many Brookfield people believe that the Four Corners is “down there” and not a part of their section of Brookfield. This is poor logic because anywhere there is a source of water and proximity to a sewer line along with 5-7 acres of land - that area is vulnerable to unrestrained development. All of Brookfield’s schools have sewer lines as do many of the older condominiums. HART buses can and will supply the transportation component necessary for incentive housing. Two properties are already listed as a possible multifamily site even though they are located in a predominantly single family neighborhood.

Hopefully, the Brookfield Zoning Commission will say no to the zoning change and the six story building.