4-Story Apartment Building Approved For Fairfield In Close Vote

FAIRFIELD, CT — A four-story affordable apartment building proposed for Fairfield’s Kings Highway area was narrowly approved Tuesday.

The Town Plan and Zoning Commission voted 4-3 in favor of the zoning compliance application that developer Berwick Associates LLC sought for the 43-unit project at 83 Castle Ave. The approval came despite neighbors’ objections at a public hearing earlier in the month.

“I understand the neighbors, I’ve heard them loud and clear,” said Commissioner Daniel Ford, who voted to grant the application. “Your beef is with the Connecticut legislature.”

The application was made under state law Section 8-30g, which applies to towns where less than 10 percent of housing stock meets the criteria to be recognized as affordable. Under the law, the only way Fairfield can avoid approving housing proposals consisting of at least 30 percent affordable units is by proving a project poses a threat to public health, welfare and safety that outweighs the need for affordable housing.

“If this wasn’t an 8-30g, I would vote no,” Ford said. “These applications are going to continue to come in and our hands are tied.”

In addition to 13 studios, 18 one-bedrooms and 12 two-bedrooms, the complex will include 57 parking spots, many of which will be under the building. Of the apartments, 30 percent will be affordably priced. The 45-foot structure will occupy a roughly half-acre lot and is expected to generate about 500 car trips per day.

As part of the approval, the commission required a retaining wall be moved 5 feet south, and recommended that stop signs be added to Castle Avenue near the site and that parking be prohibited along Berwick and Castle avenues on the sides of the streets that border the property. For three commissioners, those steps weren’t enough.

“It’s such a small plot of land, it looks like your backyard, for goodness sakes,” Secretary Meg Francis said.

Commissioner Alexis Harrison expressed concern about a lack of fire department safety reports, as well as the project’s potential effect on emergency vehicle access, school bus stops and pedestrian traffic.

“I feel like we simply don’t have adequate information,” she said. “Just because this is 8-30g doesn’t mean we need to necessarily pass it.”

Chair Thomas Noonan argued the commission had sufficient information on the project, but commissioner Kathryn Braun agreed with Harrison.

“I don’t think we should be satisfied with having our hands tied,” she said.

Francis, Harrison and Braun all voted against the application.

Vice Chair Lenny Braman argued the commission has not shied away from 8-30g denials in the past, but that such action was not warranted for the Castle Avenue proposal.

“I’m persuaded that this application must, under the law, be approved with the conditions as stated,” he said.