P&Z Unveils Proposed Rules For Elderly Housing

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are revamping the town’s zoning regulations on elderly housing, to make the rules more comprehensive, effective, and usable by the P&Z, developers, and the neighbors of elderly housing complexes.

 The proposed rules expand upon existing regulations, which were formulated in the 1970s to address the creation of Nunnawauk Meadows, a publicly-subsidized, non-profit 120-unit rental apartment housing complex for the elderly on Nunnawauk Road.

Since the inception of the existing regulations, the P&Z has modified them on a piecemeal basis to address elderly housing development issues as they arose.

The proposed changes amount to “an overhaul of the existing regulations,” according to Elizabeth Stocker, the town’s community development director. A subcommittee, with P&Z members Heidi Winslow and Lilla Dean, has been developing the proposed regulations for the past several months.

The proposed rule changes, if eventually approved by the P&Z, would apply to future elderly housing development, not to existing complexes or to development that has been already approved but not yet constructed.

The proposed rules would apply to forms of elderly housing that were not addressed in the original elderly housing regulations.

Since the original rules were created, three complexes for the elderly have been approved: Ashlar of Newtown with its adjacent Lockwood Lodge, Walnut Tree Village, and The Homesteads at Newtown.

The 43-acre, 156-bed Ashlar of Newtown on Toddy Hill Road is a private nursing home, with an adjacent 56-unit Lockwood Lodge assisted-living complex.

The 53-acre, 190-unit Walnut Tree Village on Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy Hook is a conventional condo complex consisting of multiple-unit attached condos, plus clubhouse facilities.

 The 60-acre, 298-unit Homesteads on Mt Pleasant Road in Hawleyville is planned to have three different types of elderly housing – a 100-unit assisted-living apartment building; a 160-unit congregate housing complex; and 38 attached condos for independent living. The Homesteads plans a variety of accessory uses on its property, which will be open to the general public, such as a kitchen, dining room, recreation room, fitness room, physical therapy room, plus facilities for medical professionals, personal care, and beauty.

The proposed elderly housing regulations would generally reduce potential construction densities and create larger building setbacks at complexes than the current rules provide. Under the proposed changes, the environmental constraints of a given piece of property would be a factor in setting construction density limits. The proposed changes would result in more thorough buffering between complexes and surrounding properties.

P&Z members plan to have a public discussion session on the proposed revised elderly housing regulations on Wednesday, November 29, at 7:30 pm at the town land use office at Canaan House at Fairfield Hills to solicit various views on changing the regulations. Following that session, the P&Z would reconsider its proposed rule changes, before submitting them to a public hearing, and eventually making rule changes.

Proposals

According to the P&Z, the reason for elderly housing regulations is to allow housing specifically suited for the elderly, including housing for people who are now well and able-bodied, those who are frail, and those needing medical care, so that local housing is available to allow senior citizens to “age in place.” The proposed rules would encourage multiple-family housing complexes for the elderly that are consistent with a given site’s soil quality, terrain, and public utilities. The proposed rules are intended to maintain the rural character of the area, in general, and the character of the neighborhood surrounding the complex, in particular.

The proposal requires that a “dwelling unit” contain a full kitchen and all living, parking, and storage areas on one level, except in cases where storage and parking is on another level, provided that an elevator conveniently connects the parking/storage area to the dwelling. Such a regulation would encourage the construction of apartment buildings for the elderly, which may consist of condominium units or rental units. The proposed rule would discourage townhouse-type construction.

Under the proposal, principal uses in elderly housing zones would include dwelling units, congregate housing, and hospitals for elderly families.

Allowable accessory uses would include: clubhouse, community center, kitchen, dining room, computer room, communications lab, lecture hall, theater, audio-visual room, indoor and outdoor exercise facilities, indoor swimming pool, whirlpool bath and saunas for exercise and therapy, art studio, and customary home occupations.

Other allowable accessory uses, in cases where the congregate housing is the dominant use of the property, would include facilities for medical care, dental care, and physical therapy; a child daycare center; and facilities for personal care and beauty care.

The proposed regulations also list requirements for minimum lot sizes, construction setbacks, structural coverage on lots, and building heights.

Except in cases where the development site is within the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), the proposed regulations would allow five dwelling units per acre in areas which have sanitary sewers, and four units per acre in areas without sewers.

Except in cases where the development is in the APD, the proposed rules would allow eight congregate housing units per acre in areas with sewers, and six congregate housing units per acre in areas without sewers.

Development limits would be tighter in the APD, a broad area in south-central Newtown above the Pootatuck Aquifer, which has development controls in place to prevent the contamination of underground drinking water sources.  

Also, the elderly housing rules would require buildings to be at least 50 feet apart. Access ramps would be required. Dwelling units could contain a maximum of two bedrooms.

Developments with 40 or more dwelling units would require a secondary accessway suitable for emergency vehicle use.

 Streets within a complex would remain privately owned and would be designed in light of the development limits dictated by existing topography and natural features. Such streets would conform to the town’s construction standards for public streets.

The proposed regulations also specify standards for driveways, parking, sidewalks, grading, lighting, and signs.

Also, the proposal requires that natural topography and existing vegetation be retained as much as possible, and that natural and planted buffers be created on all sides of a site to provide a visual barrier for neighboring properties. Bonding would be required to ensure that site improvements meet specifications.

Some of the proposed regulations, which place tighter development controls on sites, stem from deficiencies in the existing regulations which P&Z discovered as Walnut Tree Village was planned and built.