PZC Approves Cherenzia Housing Development Settlement

The long debate over the proposal for a housing development off of Mary Hall and Greenhaven Roads in Pawcatuck may finally be coming to an end. The Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission approved the the project developer and neighbors created as a settlement. The Superior Court, however, still must approve the settlement site plan.

The PZC approved the settlement plan with their original 19-stipulation list included by a 4-1 vote on Feb. 7, 2012. PZC member John Prue was the sole no vote.

“I’m troubled by neighbors telling other neighbors what they can do,” Prue said during the discussion of the settlement plan.

PZC members Frances Hoffman, Ben Tamsky, Robert Marseglia and alternate A. Gardner Young voted in favor of the settlement plan but did omit two items of the plan from their approval as those two items they did not feel were up to the PZC. Those two items spoke to rental restrictions such as lease terms may not be for less than a year and no more than five people may live in a rental unit, and also an agreement that Cherenzia and Associates will pay the neighbors for legal fees.

The settlement plan reduces the size of the development from 68-attached housing units to 64 and includes a number of concessions from developer Cherenzia and Associates. The settlement calls for pre-blasting surveys and well tests for neighbors as well as a stipulation that blasting will only be allowed from April to October.

“I’m very pleased that the parties could come to an agreement that addressed many of the concerns,” Hoffman said.

New London Superior Court will review the settlement on March 8, 2012 at 10 a.m. The public is invited to attend the hearing and will have the opportunity to speak before the court rules whether or not to accept the settlement.

The PZC did not make a decision on the proposal, which was also on the agenda, but expects to at their Feb. 21, 2012 meeting.