WeHa Wetlands Board To UC Site Developers: See You In September

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A massive redevelopment plan for the old University of Connecticut campus in West Hartford is officially on a summer pause with land-use boards with required hearings pushed back by several weeks.

That's because the West Hartford Plan and Zoning Commission/Inland Wetlands Watercourses Agency officially accepted four new applications regarding the Asylum Avenue project July 10.

And, with no comments, the board — acting as the town's IWWA group — immediatelly scheduled four separate public hearings on the project — which aims to build upscale apartments and several commercial/retail buildings — for September.

Those hearings will be at a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 7:15 p.m. in Room 314 of West Hartford Town Hall, located at 50 S. Main St.

Redevelopment of the old UConn site, which served as the UConn-Hartford branch from 1970 to 2017, has been in and out of town conversations for years, ever since the campus relocated to downtown Hartford.

But after weeks and months of showing up in subcommittee discussions, formal applications have been submitted, withdrawn and resubmitted again.

The developer, West Hartford 1, purchased the site in January 2022.

The development team has a working name for the project — "Oakwood Park" — and they've created a website of what they want to build.

According to a development presentation unveiled in February before the West Hartford Design Review Advisor Committee, the massive project has multiple facets.

Those include: Multi-family residential housing; boutique-style retail components; restaurants; medical offices; a spa; an organic neighborhood market; public parks walking areas, trails and ballfields; and a structured parking component.

Oakwood Park is going before the town's IWWA in four separate applications for two separate addresses that comprise the development: 1700 Asylum Ave. and 1800 Asylum Ave.

According to the applications, 1700 Asylum Ave. deals with the building of five, multi-story residential buildings with "related amenities."

Meanwhile, 1800 Asylum Ave. deals with the development of the campus itself and all other components of what's being planned there.

For each address, the developers are looking for an IWWA permit because the project is located close to a "wetlands regulated area," work that requires approval from the wetlands board.

In addition, each address will need IWWA approval for a zoning map ammendment based on a recent "onsite soil survey prepared by a professional soil scientist."

These steps were about to take place July 10, but the developers — working in conjunction with town officials — opted to withdraw and resubmit modified applications based on local input about the development.

For the minutes of the July 10 West Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission/Inland Wetland Watercourses Agency meeting, click on this link.

From July 6: 'UPDATE: Process Delayed For Massive WeHa Development At UConn Site'