SUFFIELD, CT — A zoning change that could have cleared the way for a large residential development near the center of Suffield has been unanimously rejected.
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 on Sept. 1 against an application from Selective Development LLC to change residential density limits in the Town Center Village District, according to meeting minutes posted Wednesday.
The proposal was connected to a possible development at 42 Ffyler Place, a 24-acre commercial property behind the CVS on Mountain Road.
As Patch previously reported, an early concept for the property included as many as 250 rental units, including apartments and townhouses. Approval of the zoning amendment would not have approved that development. A separate special permit and additional reviews would still have been required.
The proposed amendment would have replaced the existing limit of 45 residential units per parcel with a maximum density of 15 units per developable acre.
The developer revised the proposal before the final hearing, changing the calculation from total acreage to developable acreage. The required affordable-housing share was also increased from 12 percent to 15 percent.
Those units would have been reserved for households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income for 15 years.
Attorney and landscape architect Terri Hahn, representing the developer, told the commission the amendment would allow multifamily housing on eligible properties without expanding the Town Center Village District or creating new lots.
Eric Brown, a principal with Selective Development, said a detailed development application would have required future reviews of traffic, infrastructure, environmental conditions and available water and sewer capacity.
Residents packed the hearing, with opponents raising concerns about traffic, schools, emergency access, the loss of existing businesses and the potential effect on Suffield's rural character. Supporters said the town needs more housing for young adults, working families and older residents who want to remain in Suffield.
Commission members ultimately agreed that the proposed density was too high.
Chairman Jacob Byrnes said 15 units per acre would be too intense and inconsistent with the town's Plan of Conservation and Development.
Commissioner Jeff Girard said the current 45-unit restriction may need to change but said the developer's proposal was not the right solution. Other members raised concerns about traffic, safety and an emergency-access easement through the neighboring CVS property.
The commission then voted on a motion to approve the amendment. All six members voted against it.
The vote does not prevent the developer from returning with a different proposal for the property.
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