550+ Fairfielders Sign Petition To Stop Unquowa Road Development

FAIRFIELD, CT — A petition was launched last week to stop a proposed affordable housing development on Unquowa Road, and repeal the controversial state regulation that is ushering in the complex.

The petition, "Save Downtown Fairfield! Repeal 8-30g, Stop the Unquowa Rd Six-Story Housing Development," was launched by Fairfield Republican state representative candidates Michael Grant and Brian Farnen, and as of Monday afternoon, more than 550 people had signed it.

"Predatory developers are using the 8-30g statute to circumvent Fairfield’s zoning regulations," the two wrote.

"The state needs to scrap the 8-30g state statute and replace it with a program that helps towns build their own affordable housing, and allows our organic, affordable middle housing to be included in the state’s metrics."

In its application, the Unquowa Road project, which is "within four hundred (400) feet of the Fairfield Train Station," calls for the construction of 63 housing units and some commercial space, according to attorney Christopher Smith, who represents the developers.

"The proposed multi-family residential community will be comprised of sixteen (16) studio, four (4) one bedroom, and forty-three (43) two bedroom dwellings or apartments," Smith wrote. "There are 60 parking spaces provided on-site, with public parking available in immediate proximity to the subject property.

"This mixed-income residential community provides not only additional and much needed diverse housing product for the Town of Fairfield, but also provides for a transit-oriented redevelopment of the subject property consistent with transit-oriented development concepts."

The petition, however, is not moved by the development's potential.

"The Unquowa Road proposal, which is sandwiched between the historic Community Theater and Donnelly walk, in the heart of our historic downtown, as currently envisioned will exacerbate existing traffic, pedestrian safety, and flooding concerns in the downtown," the organizers wrote. "Working in the best interest of the town and protecting the historic charm of our downtown should not be a partisan issue. We need legislators that will represent our residents and not sit on the sidelines."

Incumbent Democratic state Reps. Jennifer Leeper and Cristin McCarthy Vahey, who Farnen and Grant are running against, are called out by name in the petition, but the two incumbents made clear in the Fairfield Citizen that they oppose the proposed development.

Leeper and McCarthy Vahey also said that they have worked hard in support of efforts to address concerns over 8-30g.

To view the petition, click here; to view the agenda for Tuesday's Plan and Zoning Commission meeting, click here.