Commission Forced To Review

Its Rules For Elderly Housing

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are taking a long look at the town’s zoning regulations on high-density, multifamily housing for the elderly.

The commission is deciding how the rules should be modified to best balance the interests of the people who live in such housing, the neighbors of elderly housing complexes, the land developers who build such projects, and the general public.

P&Z members June 21 held one of what have been many sessions on the topic during the past year.

Besides its own proposed rule revisions, the P&Z also is considering proposed rule changes from Ginsburg Development Corporation, a firm which wants to build an 84-unit condominium complex for people over 55 on a 40-acre site at 178 Mt Pleasant Road in Hawleyville.

The P&Z allows housing for the elderly in EH-10 zones. An EH-10 zone is a “floating zone” which may be allowed at places with other types of zoning, provided that the site has at least 10 acres.

Such EH-10 zones now exist at Ashlar of Newtown on Toddy Hill Road, Nunnawauk Meadows on Nunnawauk Road, Walnut Tree Village on Walnut Tree Hill Road, and The Homesteads at Newtown on Mt Pleasant Road. Such zoning is intended for high-density, multifamily developments in which the P&Z allows a development density much greater than normal as a financial incentive for developers to build elderly housing. Based on federal regulations, “elderly” is defined as over age 55.

The P&Z initially created EH-10 zoning for Nunnawauk Meadows, a subsidized low- and moderate-income rental housing complex for the elderly. The P&Z has adapted the EH-10 regulations over the years to accommodate other elderly housing complexes.

A basic premise of the P&Z’s EH-10 regulations is that elderly housing should exist on a single level to allow the elderly easy access to all sections of their residences. That provision is maintained in the P&Z’s EH-10 rule revision proposal.

Ginsburg, however, is seeking to change that regulation and allow elderly housing units to have finished walkout basements, as well as second stories, saying that such architectural features are desired by homeowners in “active adult communities.” That change, in effect, would permit living areas on three levels.

Ginsburg also wants the P&Z to allow multifamily buildings to be as close as 20 feet apart. The current regulations require a 40-foot minimum separation distance between buildings. The P&Z’s proposed rule revisions would require buildings to be at least 50 feet apart.

Ginsburg also is seeking to change existing R-2 Residential and P-1 Professional zoning at the Hawleyville site to an EH-10 zoning designation.

In its review of Ginsburg’s proposed rule changes, the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency recommends that the P&Z reject the developer’s proposal to allow more than one level of living space in elderly housing. Permitting more than one level would not allow the frail elderly to have complete access to all living areas, according to the Bridgeport agency. Allowing more than one level would contradict the current regulations’ intent, according to the Bridgeport agency.

Ginsburg representatives have said that all essential living areas in their proposed Hawleyville complex would be on the ground level, with “bonus rooms” provided in second stories and walkout basements.

At a P&Z session June 7, P&Z members appeared divided over the wisdom of Ginsburg’s proposed EH-10 rule revisions, with some members appearing to favor allowing multiple-level development and others opposed. Most P&Z members appeared intrigued by Ginsburg’s specific proposal for the Hawleyville site, but some voiced concern that if Ginsburg’s rule changes were approved, such changes would apply to all EH-10 zones.

At the June 21 P&Z public hearing on proposed EH-10 zoning rule changes, Thomas Gissen, representing Ginsburg, explained why that firm’s proposals for second stories, walkout basements, and reduced separation distances between buildings are worthwhile.

Dr Morton Silberstein and his wife, Linda, both spoke in favor of allowing independent housing for the elderly to be built on multiple levels, instead of only on a single level. The Silbersteins are the developers of The Homesteads at Newtown, an elderly housing complex adjacent to the Ginsburg site. The Homesteads includes a 100-unit assisted-living building, plus condominium units.

The town’s Economic Development Commission has endorsed the Ginsburg construction proposal as a form of local economic development. Ginsburg, however, would have to convince the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) that the economic development aspects of its proposal warrant its connection to the Hawleyville sewer system. 

P&Z member Lilla Dean asked P&Z members for ideas on how the agency can create a set of acceptable EH-10 regulations. The P&Z has spent much time considering changes to its EH-10 regulations, she said.

The P&Z’s current rule change proposal would require larger buffer areas between the buildings in elderly housing complexes and adjacent properties, as well as require greater distances between the buildings in an elderly complex and the street.

The P&Z’s proposed rule changes also would affect construction densities, building design standards, and parking requirements.

At a P&Z session early this month at which revisions to the EH-10 rules were discussed, resident Mary Burnham of Walnut Tree Hill Road said the P&Z is facing a dilemma over whether it should continue restricting EH-10 housing to a single level. The matter poses a “philosophical question,” she said.  If the P&Z allows two-story EH-10 housing, what would then stop developers from seeking two-story multi-family housing complexes for people under age 55, she asked. Ms Burnham lives next door to Walnut Tree Village, an 80-unit condo complex for the elderly which is being expanded to 190 units.

Development problems encountered during the 80-unit first phase of Walnut Tree Village prompted the P&Z to rethink its EH-10 regulations.

P&Z members plan a special meeting for July 26 to again discuss modifying the town’s EH-10 regulations.