East Windsor PZC Approves Change to Multi Family Development Regulations

The East Windsor Planning and Zoning Commission approved a text change to its regulations allowing Planned Residential Developments (PRD) on parcels zoned Multi Family Development Districts (MFDD). The change will open up parcels designated for apartment type units to detached single family dwellings with a lower occupant density.

The application for the text change came from West River Farms, LLC owned by developer Jeffrey Respler. Though the application did not reference a particular property or development and concerned itself with the text change only, the applicant made it clear that his intentions were to develop a parcel on Scantic Rd. He plans to build roughly 50 to 60 single family units should the change make the regulations favorable to such an application.

Attorney Joseph Capossela, representing the applicant, argued that the PRD in an MFDD zone better suited the needs of a changing marketplace for housing in the current economic climate.

“Current housing trends in Connecticut point away from McMansions and toward smaller homes in cluster developments,” said Capossela.

The PRD would allow up to two units per acre, but would require an amount of open space to be donated to the municipality or land trust for preservation.

The Commission voted to approve the change unanimously after only a brief discussion. Capossela argued, and the commission agreed that not allowing for the lesser density of use in the MFDD was most likely an oversight when the regulations had been drawn up previously, and that the text change actually allowed the commission more flexibility in the types of developments it allowed.

In other business, the commission approved the renewal of the special use permit for the Newberry Village active adult community. The permit was approved with two modifications. The expired permit contained a provision requiring sidewalks in the complex, but the new permit eliminated that requirement. New landscaping designs were also added to the permit.

The sidewalks proved to be an unwieldy feature in the complex as the quality of the soil made the concrete heave and ruin the walkways.

Newly appointed commissioner Richard Sullivan said, “from a practicality standpoint, I don't see how the sidewalks are ever going to work there, you go through a couple of cycles of freeze thaw and those concrete blocks are going to heave and be unusable.”

The representative of Newberry Village confirmed that this was already the case with some of the sidewalks already installed on the site.

Finally, the commission approved the special use permit for a modification of a volume reduction facility owned by Newberry Road Enterprises on Newberry Rd. The approval was made with setbacks of 100 ft from the property line, a condition not initially requested by the applicant. Thought the application was approved, the applicant was visibly upset by the changes, and not satisfied with the decision of the commission.