WeHa Council Blesses Zone Change For Massive Development

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A massive upscale apartment building/retail development cleared a major hurdle Wednesday night when the West Hartford Town Council approved a specialized zone change needed for that to happen.

The council voted 8-1 at a special meeting to support The Arapahoe Group LLC's zone change request in West Hartford's Special Development District, something that required council action.

Supporters said this project represents a step toward West Hartford's future and would incentivize young people to move to town and patronize businesses.

"They're the future of our town who actually want to move here as well as others. I really believe the window of opportunity is now," said Democratic Councilperson Carol Blanks.

"For 20 years, this area has been vacant. It's been unused space. This is, in my opinion, an opportunity to grow our grand list."

The mixed-use development would be along Arapahoe Road, LaSalle Road and Farmington Avenue.

Arapahoe's plan is to transform an abandoned office building and parking lot into upscale condominiums and apartments in the center of town.

The condo/apartment project is called "75 LaSalle and Center Park Place" and the development has been before the town for months.

An early application was submitted over the summer, but it was withdrawn from both the West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission and town council in September.

At the time, Arapahoe said it needed more time to tweak its plans to address concerns by town staff and a town review committee over the scope and size of the project.

According to West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith, the proposed development includes five properties — 53-65 LaSalle Road; 27-43 LaSalle Road; 8 Arapahoe Road; 12 Arapahoe Road; and 1001 Farmington Ave.

The project would require knocking down two existing buildings and building two new buildings containing 83 multi-family housing units and 3,500 square feet of new commercial space.

It would also feature a parking garage, surface parking, landscaping and public areas.

Wednesday's council approval is not the final step, as the project was referred to the PZC, but council support was necessary given the development's location in the special district.

The PZC next meets Jan. 4, 2023 at 7 p.m. at West Hartford Town Hall, though whether this will be on the agenda then is not known.

What is known is council approval sets up the development to navigate the town's land-use boards en route to construction.

Council support

And council members from both sides of the political aisle were pleased to say "yes."

"I think this is a natural progression for West Hartford. We need to grow our brand, as some people say," Republican Mark Zydanowicz said.

He referenced one of the speakers at a marathon public hearing Dec. 13, when nearly five hours of testimony prompted the need for Wednesday's special meeting.

The hearing didn't conclude until early the next morning Dec. 14 and the council then opted to delay action until this week.

"One of the speakers said if you don't like change, you'll hate extinction," said Zydanowicz of a hearing speaker supporting the project.

Other speakers last week, however, had concerns about the size of the project, despite the developer tweaking it after September's concerns, and the amount of added traffic.

Republican Councilperson Mary Fay was the lone dissenter, voting "no."

"I do have some reservations and some concerns. Peoples' voices were really loud and clear. There's a lot of good in the proposals, but there are some concerns," Fay said via telephone at the meeting. "I'm concerned about the size and I'm concerned about the parking."

Ultimately, council members sided with notions this developer's investment could prompt further business investments, which, in turn, would increase the tax base.

Said West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor, a Democrat: "We feel that this investment will lead to further investment in our town."

Notes on the proposal:

• The proposal was approved with some conditions, with many technical in nature or being stipulations that the project fit in with the area around it and future developments.

But one condition was for 16 percent of the proposed housing units being deemed "affordable," based on federal mandates.

In this case, according to West Hartford Corporation Counsel Dallas Dodge, that means four units being deemed "affordable" in town.

• An opposition petition was submitted that would have required a super-majority on the council approve the measure.

But, according to Dodge, it didn't have enough qualified signatures and it didn't meet certain mandates to do that.

As a result, he said, the petition could only be used in an advisory capacity and was not a mandate on the type of decision required.

For the full information packet regarding the proposal, click on this link.

From Dec. 9: 'West Hartford Council To Tackle Large Development/Amusement Centers'