Changes To Fairfield Affordable Housing Plan Delay Hearing, Vote

FAIRFIELD, CT — The Fairfield Housing Corp. has made a case to local conservation officials that an affordable housing development proposed for 980 High St. would not harm wetlands on the property, despite neighbors' environmental concerns.

"Nothing is going to happen in the wetland," said Bryan LeClerc, an attorney representing the corporation.

A public hearing scheduled Wednesday for the development was continued when the housing corporation, which is seeking an inland wetland permit, distributed new plans for the project. The proposal was still discussed for about two hours at the meeting of the Conservation Commission, acting as the Inland Wetlands Agency. Town staff had originally recommended the corporation's application be denied without prejudice, but must now consider the new plans.

The High Street site is about 2.5 acres, and is currently occupied by an 1895 Queen Anne-style home, a garage and two sheds, as well as an open meadow, a wooded area and more than 4,000 square feet of wetlands. The property was purchased for $2.1 million in late 2018 by the housing corporation, a nonprofit controlled by the Fairfield Housing Authority. The proposed development would include 40 apartments in five buildings, 80% of which would qualify as state-designated affordable housing. The Fairfield Housing Corp. plans to restore the lot's existing home as office space and a community room.

Community members have resisted development on the property, forming the corporation Fairfield Neighbors United and hiring an attorney with thousands of dollars in donations. Neighbors are also conducting a soil study. Fundraising efforts to fight the project have included a tag sale and a GoFundMe campaign. An online petition against the development has more than 1,600 signatures. Residents' concerns include the potential for increased flood risk and wildlife displacement.

Attorney Joel Green, who is representing Fairfield Neighbors United, told the wetlands agency Wednesday he has filed a petition to intervene concerning the project and referenced notices of intervention for two individuals. In addition to Green, a large group of residents attended the agency's meeting.

Experts speaking on behalf of the project told the agency the development will include porous parking spaces, an overflow pipe directing stormwater to the High Street drainage system, swales behind the property's northern and southern buildings, and an average buffer of about 100 feet around the wetlands. Some construction is planned for land within 90 feet of the wetlands, where a fire truck turnaround, guardrail and section of sidewalk would be installed, according to project engineer Brian Baker. The infrastructure involving the porous pavement will hold stormwater during large rain events and slowly release it into the wetlands, certified soil scientist and landscape architect Willian Kenny told the agency.

"In my professional opinion, this management proposal is a good thing for the wetland," he said.

The development is designed to retain up to a 100-year storm on the site, Baker said, while Kenny said the potential direct impact to the wetlands is nonexistent.

"There's quite a bit of layers of protection," Kenny said.

The changes to the project submitted Wednesday include four new parking spaces, solar light fixtures, additional shade trees in the parking lot, a wider sidewalk and the addition of the swales, among other things, according to LeClerc.

After the housing corporation's team made its presentation, residents asked for specifics about the functionality of the permeable pavement and how the development will handle snowfall. In snow events, any accumulation will be trucked off the site, LeClerc said.

Green told the agency he would reserve his questions and comments about the proposal for the continued hearing date of Aug. 7.

After the proposal goes before the wetlands agency, the next step would be for it to be considered by the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.