Decision Almost Made on Massive, Controversial Milford Affordable Housing Project

Waiting can be the hardest part, but in the end it looks like Milford residents will get their wish as the Planning and Zoning Board is likely to reject a massive 257-unit affordable housing complex at 460 Bic Drive.

It’s just that the vote didn’t happen last night, it’s likely to come at the zoning commission’s next meeting on April 6.

The PZB instructed City Planner David Sulkis to draft a motion to deny the controversial project, reports the New Haven Register.

Reasons for denial include health and safety concerns. Inevitably, a Superior Court Judge will likely decide the project’s fate as the courts routinely side with affordable housing developers.

The applicant’s attorney Thomas Lynch indicated an appeal would be filed, the Register reports. Because it’s an affordable housing application the burden of proof is on Milford to prove why the complex would adversely impact residents health and safety.

Zoning members expressed density concerns, limited access for emergency vehicles, and a lack of sidewalks as concerns, the Register reported.

City Hall was full of residents who oppose the project, and they were ecstatic with board members comments indicating a denial is likely.

In July the Milford Planning and Zoning Board unanimously rejected the developer’s original bid to construct a 257-unit affordable housing apartment complex along Bic Drive.

At the time the city was confident in its denial because the state’s General Assembly approved a moratorium on affordable housing projects for 2014 in Milford.

Well it’s a new year and developer Garden Homes Management, of Stamford, is back with the same exact application. But this time the city no longer has the affordable housing moratorium to use.

After the city denied the proposal in July, Garden Homes Management Owner Richard Freeman blasted the city questioning whether racism was the city’s real motivation against allowing affording housing applications in the city.

Freeman filed a legal appeal to the PZB’s denial but that was dropped and a new application was filed earlier this year, reports the Milford Mirror.

The proposal

Garden Homes Management, of Stamford, proposed 257-units along Bic Drive.

Of the 257 units, 78 are considered affordable. The company is planning a 53,617 square-foot “H” type building, which would feature about 60 studio apartments and 190 one-bedroom units.

The size of the units range from 500 square-feet for a studio and up to 750 square-feet for a one bedroom unit. Rents would range from $845 to $1,150 a month.

The development is proposed for 460 Bic Drive, which abuts the Bic Corp. office site and is adjacent to Subway’s World Headquarters and the Caswell Cove Condominium Complex.

The site is currently farmland and includes an existing house. Freedman has said in an email to Milford Patch that “the site is highly appropriate for the proposed use.”