Proposed 43-Unit Apartment Building 'Just Too Big,' Fairfield Neighbors Say

FAIRFIELD, CT — Neighbors of a proposed 43-unit apartment building spoke out Tuesday, sharing concerns that the development could cause problems for traffic and stormwater management if it is constructed.

“To think that 43 units could go there is absurd to me,” said Trisha Pytko, who lives across the street from the 25,000-square-foot lot at 83 Castle Ave., which she referred to as a “postage stamp of a property.”

Developer Berwick Associates LLC is seeking zoning compliance approval from the Town Plan and Zoning Commission, and appeared remotely before the body for a public hearing Tuesday. The developer hopes to construct a 45-foot, four-story structure with 13 studios, 18 one-bedrooms and 12 two-bedrooms, plus 57 parking spaces, many of which would be under the building. Of the rentals, 30 percent would be priced as affordable housing.

The application is being 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.

“This affordable housing is necessary and essential to the town,” said attorney Raymond Rizio, representing the developer.

Home decades ago to single-family houses, the site at Berwick and Castle avenues is in a multifamily residential zone, but is also a block from the Kings Highway East business corridor.

“We haven’t plopped something in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” Rizio said.

The proposal is expected to generate about 500 car trips per day, with 39 during the morning traffic peak and 50 within the afternoon peak, according to traffic engineer Scott Hesketh. The project would cause minimal impact in the area, Hesketh said, although he added the developer intends to ask the police commission to approve the installation of stop signs at Castle and Berwick avenues.

The building will have underground stormwater storage units and a rain garden, according to engineer Russ Waldo.

“There is no room for anything of this size,” said neighbor Carole Hull. “This is just too big for the area. It’s going to cause so many problems and there is water, there’s water everywhere.”

Commissioner Kathryn Braun asked about letters she had received indicating there was an underground spring on the property — town officials said there was no record of it — and noted the site is in the Rooster River watershed.

“We will not have any stormwater drainage problems,” Rizio said.

Pytko said the project would be “a safety hazard” and requested a traffic study be done by Fairfield police, noting inaccessibility is already a problem in the area due to congestion caused by street parking.

“We believe our project has sufficient on-site parking to handle the demands of our tenants,” Rizio said.

A former school board member, Pytko worried about how increased development could affect a potential redistricting.

“We’re going to keep building, but our school district cannot handle this overflow,” she said.

Rizio was adamant the project would not significantly impact the health and safety of residents, but Hull wasn’t so sure.

“It’s not safe,” she said. “Please reconsider the size of this. Reconsider what you are doing.”

The commission is expected to discuss the proposal in the coming weeks.