Big Crowd Delays Hearing Tied To 250-Unit Suffield Plan

SUFFIELD, CT — A public hearing on a zoning change that could clear the way for a 250-unit rental development was postponed after the crowd exceeded the capacity of the Town Hall meeting room.

Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Lincoln Byrnes announced Aug. 17 that the hearing would not go forward that night, citing safety and fairness concerns, according to meeting minutes.

The commission voted 6-0 to continue the hearing to a special meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1. The town calendar now lists the meeting at the Suffield Middle School auditorium, 350 Mountain Road.

Terri Hahn of LADA, P.C., representing applicant Selective Development, LLC, agreed to the postponement so the town could secure a larger meeting space.

The hearing concerns File 2026-5, a proposed zoning-text amendment for the Town Center Village District. Commissioners are not yet being asked to approve construction at the former Laureno Lumber property at 42 Ffyler Place.

Instead, the amendment would change the district’s residential-density rules, a step that would need to happen before a site-specific development proposal could move forward.

Current regulations cap qualifying apartment and condominium projects at 45 units per parcel. The applicant has proposed replacing that limit with a maximum density of 15 units per acre, along with additional requirements for developments containing more than 45 units.

Selective Development has said it is under contract to purchase the 24.3-acre former lumberyard property. A concept presented earlier this year included 210 apartments in seven three-story buildings and 40 townhouse rentals in eight buildings. Plans also showed a clubhouse and a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes.

The proposed density formula could allow as many as 364 units on the property if calculated using its full acreage, although the concept presented to the commission contained 250 homes.

Residents and commissioners previously raised concerns about traffic, school enrollment, infrastructure, environmental conditions and the effect a large development could have on the town center. Patch previously reported that the applicant’s proposed rules would require at least 12 percent of the units to be affordable to households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income.

No action was taken on the amendment Aug. 17. The public hearing will continue Sept. 1.

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