P&Z Delays Action On Fairfield Hills Housing Rules

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have postponed action on a controversial proposal to revise the Fairfield Hills Adaptive Reuse (FHAR) zoning regulations that would allow Cochran House there to be converted for use as an apartment building.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean told P&Z members at a July 7 session that she has been waiting for the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee (MPRC) to provide a report, including the results of a public opinion survey, on the future possible uses of Fairfield Hills, but that report is not yet available.

That report would become available to the P&Z after it is submitted by the MPRC to the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council, she said.

“I’m somewhat disappointed. We will not be discussing this tonight,” she told P&Z members. The topic was listed on the P&Z meeting agenda for “discussion and possible action.”

After realizing that the controversial housing topic would not be discussed on July 7, a group of about seven residents, which had apparently attended the session at Newtown Municipal Center to witness the P&Z’s planned discussion and possible action on the proposed zoning rule changes, left the meeting room.

The P&Z this week canceled its meeting that had been scheduled for July 21.

The Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee has scheduled a meeting for discussion on its final report for 7 pm on Wednesday, July 20, at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street.

The P&Z conducted public hearings in May and April on proposed zoning rule changes that would allow Cochran House to be converted for use as an apartment building, provided that at least ten percent of the dwellings there are designated as “affordable housing” and that all of the dwellings have sanitary sewer service and public water service.

The proposed zoning rule changes also would allow the reuse of eight existing single-family houses at Fairfield Hills as affordable housing.

Affordable housing, also known as workforce housing, is designated for moderate- and low-income families.

At a May 5 public hearing, a large majority of residents speaking told P&Z members that they oppose allowing Cochran House to become an apartment building.

It was the second time that the P&Z had received such a message from residents. At a heavily attended April 7 public hearing, the P&Z heard similar comments.

Residents’ opposition appeared to focus on high-density housing at Fairfield Hills being an undesirable land use that would create traffic/parking problems, impinge on the use of adjacent youth baseball fields, and prevent the potential reuse of the land now occupied by Cochran House as future open space.

In response, Ms Dean has said that allowing a diversity of housing types provides people who are beginning their careers with places to live.

Concerns about traffic and parking stemming from a Cochran House apartment complex would be addressed by the P&Z during its review of a site plan for such a project, according to Ms Dean. Having 160 apartments at Cochran House would benefit local businesses, as well as stimulate the provision of bus transportation in Newtown, Ms Dean has said.

The multistory, 188,000-square-foot Cochran House was used for patient treatment and housing when Fairfield Hills was a state psychiatric hospital in the past. The building was constructed in 1956.

The P&Z conducted the spring public hearings in view of a development firm’s interest in creating multifamily housing in Cochran House. A New York City developer has proposed a 160-unit apartment complex, but has not submitted an application for the project because the zoning regulations do not allow such a use there.

The FHAR zone at Fairfield Hills is intended to permit the conversion and reuse of buildings at the former state psychiatric hospital campus in a manner that is in harmony with the campus and the surrounding neighborhood. The FHAR zoning regulations currently allow dozens of potential uses for the campus, but not the multifamily housing as proposed by the developer for Cochran House.

Under P&Z’s proposal for zoning rule changes, the FHAR regulations would be revised to allow housing through P&Z’s special permit process, which would provide the agency with much latitude in approving a project.