Milford Denies Large Upscale Apartment Complex And The Reason May Surprise You

MILFORD, CT — A developer's bid to construct a 168-unit apartment complex near Plains Road and the Boston Post Road was dealt a setback recently, and the reason why may surprise you.

The developer, Robert Smith Jr. is seeking to construct upscale apartment units but zoning officials are concerned that there is no affordable housing as part of the proposed development. Milford officials are trying to add about 450 units of affordable housing to secure a moratorium on affordable housing applications. Gov. Malloy recently vetoed changes to the state's affordable housing law, which would have made it much easier for Milford to achieve a 4-year moratorium, but it's possible lawmakers could try and override Malloy's veto.

Smith told the PZB that he doesn't built affordable housing units, the Milford Mirror reports. Smith said if he filed an affordable housing application he could have built 300 units instead of the 168 he is seeking. Smith sought a regulation chance, which was rejected by the PZB in a 5-4 vote.

Here's a recap of the board's discussions with Smith and comments made from the public regarding the apartment complex proposal.

Bob Smith, Managing Director of Metrostar Properties, 50 Cherry St, noted the presence of his project team: Engineer Ray Paier, Architect Wicko, Traffic Engineer Dave Sullivan, and Attorney Amy Souchin attending in place of Attorney John Knuff.

Chairman Marlow asked Mr. Smith to review the previous discussion of the zone changes. Mr. Smith said the changes his company was requesting would be more consistent with current real estate market trends and be more consistent with other zones in Milford. He said his company doesn’t do 8-30g projects and that incorporating 8-30g units should not be a de facto requirement of all projects. He argued for the benefit of the reduced density of his project.

Board Discussion: The board did not have questions for the applicant.

Chairman Marlow opened the hearing to the public with instructions.

Favor: Dan German, 114 Beach Avenue, said he approved of the quality of MetroStar projects.

Opposed: Summarized below:

Kim Rose, 292 Naugatuck, 118th District State Representative, opposed the project’s lack of concern for affordable housing, which she said was designed to help city workers and others to live locally. She noted her own efforts to change implementation of the 8-30g statute. She said the proposed project site was well suited to affordable housing units. She noted a probable moratorium on the statute, but said that even after such a moratorium, Milford would need about 400-500 more affordable units to reach the 8-30g target percentage. She said there should be a percentage of affordable housing allocated to this project.

Dominic Cotton, 60 Corona Dr., urged the board to consider the long-term implications of the board’s decision. He reviewed recent 8-30g projects, saying there were negative impacts to single family neighborhoods.

Susan Glennon reiterated comments she made at the previous meeting. She disagreed that the regulations should be changed at the request of a developer, stating that predatory developments were being
forced into single family neighborhoods. She felt the proposed site of this development was much more
appropriate to siting 8-30g development.

Rebuttal

Mr. Smith said 8-30g applies to all current zones except industrial zones. He said he wished to build a moderately dense, balanced project.

Board Discussion: Chairman Marlow closed the public hearing. Mr. Sutton asked Mr. Sulkis how many multi-family projects had been built in CDD-1; Mr. Sulkis said no affordable project had been proposed in any CDD zones since the inception of the CDD zones in 2004. Mr. Grant said he didn’t have a problem with the zoning requests except as they related to 8-30g construction. He expressed concern that the city would only be halfway to the 10% target of affordable units, and that it would be raising the ratio by adding more non-affordable units. He said he didn’t want an opportunity lost to work at attaining the target percentage. Mr. Quish agreed.

Motion: Mr. Quish motioned to deny all changes to the regulations.

Second: Mr. Moore seconded.

Discussion: None.

Vote: The motion received a simple majority of those present (5-for/4-against), but not a majority of the board, so the vote was nullified per later discussion with the City attorney.

Read the full Milford Mirror story here.