Through Zoning Change –

New Housing Sites Proposed

By Andrew Gorosko

A developer has told the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) how his proposed “affordable housing” regulation changes would increase the potential number of local affordable housing sites.

In a report to P&Z members on May 1, attorney William Denlinger, representing developer Guri Dauti, described to P&Z members how Mr Dauti’s proposed rule changes would make 17 local sites potentially available for such development.

Following an April 3 public hearing on Mr Dauti’s affordable housing proposal for Sandy Hook center, P&Z members had asked the developer to research how many more local properties would fall under his requested rule changes.

Mr Dauti is seeking rule changes to allow him to proceed with site planning for a proposed 16-unit multifamily housing complex in Sandy Hook Center. The proposal has encountered opposition from nearby property owners. The opposition has focused on the architectural character of such a complex, its relatively high construction density, additional traffic, property values, and the difficulties of developing the steep site.

Mr Dauti wants to build a multifamily complex at 95 and 99 Church Hill Road. The site is on the north side of Church Hill Road, west of Church Hill Road’s intersection with Dayton Street.

The developer is seeking zoning rule changes that would reduce the required lot area and also reduce the required street frontage for affordable housing complexes, in places where public water supplies and sanitary sewers are available. The Church Hill Road site has access to both public utilities.

Mr Dauti is seeking to have the current minimum lot size for affordable housing complexes reduced from six acres to three acres.

17 Properties

In his report to the P&Z, Mr Denlinger identified the additional properties that could become potential affordable housing sites, based on Mr Dauti’s proposed rule changes. Twelve of those properties contain residences, and five properties are vacant, he adds.

Those properties are located on Mt Pleasant Road, Currituck Road, Hanover Road, Roosevelt Drive, Sugar Street, West Street, Grand Place, Wendover Road, Washington Avenue, and Church Hill Road, Mr Denlinger wrote. The 17 properties do not include the 95 and 99 Church Hill Road properties that Mr Dauti wants to develop, Mr Denlinger said.

The list excludes town-owned properties, state-owned properties, land owned by the Newtown Forest Association, commercial and industrial properties, and properties lying within the borough. Because the borough has its own zoning regulations, Mr Dauti’s proposed zoning rule changes would not apply to properties within the borough.

Although 12 of the 17 affected properties have structures on them, those structures potentially could be demolished to make way for multifamily housing containing affordable housing.

Mr Denlinger notes that if the proposed minimum lot size for affordable housing were to decrease from the current six acres to four acres, the number of properties affected by the proposed rule changes would be nine parcels. The lawyer adds that if the minimum lot size for affordable housing were to decrease from six acres to 4.5 acres, the number of properties affected by the proposed rule changes would be four parcels.

Mr Denlinger points out that Mr Dauti’s proposal to combine 95 and 99 Church Hill Road as a site for an affordable housing complex involves 4.56 acres .

The lawyer adds that Mr Dauti would not object if the P&Z were to modify its regulations on affordable housing to specify the minimum lot size for such complexes as either 4.5 acres, or 4 acres, rather than the 3-acre minimum lot size that the developer has requested.

“We…believe that affordable housing on smaller lots is preferable to large affordable housing projects,” Mr Denlinger wrote of the desirability of a relatively compact complex, such as the one proposed by Mr Dauti for 95 and 99 Church Hill Road.

Concurrently, Mr Dauti is seeking P&Z approval to rezone 1.3 acres of the 4.56 acres from EH-10 zoning to FR-2 zoning. EH-10 zoning is designated for elderly housing. FR-2 zoning is intended for general residential use. The FR-2 zoning designation would lend itself to an affordable housing complex.

If the P&Z approves Mr Dauti’s requests, he would later seek a “special exception” to the zoning regulations to create a Sandy Hook Center multifamily housing complex, which would include affordable housing. Under the terms of the town’s zoning regulations, at least 30 percent of the units would be designated as “affordable housing” for people meeting certain income limits. If a 16-unit complex were proposed, five of those units would be designated as affordable housing.

The town’s land use regulations allow housing complexes that include affordable housing to be built at higher construction densities than typical single-family housing.

In view of the potential for more affordable housing sites becoming locally available, P&Z members are considering strengthening the architectural and landscaping requirements for such development.

P&Z members are expected to discuss and possibly act on Mr Dauti’s proposals at the May 15 P&Z meeting.