Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting and Public Hearing - March 29, 2023
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Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting and Public Hearing - March 29, 2023
Note: The agenda and transcript list the meeting date as Tuesday, March 28, 2023, but the provided timestamp indicates March 29, 2023. This summary uses the given date.
The Stamford Planning Board held a regular meeting and public hearing via Zoom. The board approved capital appropriations, zoning referrals, and variances, and adjourned a public hearing on a master plan amendment to a future date.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of March 7, 2023: Approved unanimously (5-0) after a correction noting that the March 7 meeting included a public hearing.
- Fire Apparatus Capital Appropriation (Project #C63005): $1,700,000 for the purchase of two fire engines (approx. $850,000 each) before an expected price increase of $300,000. Approved unanimously (5-0).
Discussion Items
- Stamford High Athletic Fields (Project #001327): $3,000,000 in state grants ($2M from DEEP, $1M from Economic Development) for synthetic turf baseball and multipurpose soccer/lacrosse fields. City Engineer Lou Casolo and Facilities Director Kevin McCarthy presented. Jay Tepper expressed concerns about health impacts of synthetic turf and abstained from the vote. The board discussed the use of recycled, non-tire-pellet turf. Motion to approve passed 4-0-1 (Tepper abstaining).
- Zoning Board Referrals:
- ZB #223-13 (Text Change): Proposed to amend Section 10.K to permit hotel additions in the CB zone. Presented by attorney Ray Mazzeo. Approved unanimously.
- ZB #223-14 (Armon Hotel, 2701 Summer Street): Special permit for a one-story prayer room addition with a green roof and enhanced landscape buffer to replace temporary tents used for religious events. The addition is limited to 3% of floor area or 10,000 sq ft, with equal off-site landscaping. Approved unanimously.
- Zoning Board of Appeals Referrals:
- ZBA #009-23 (85 Myrtle Avenue): Variance for a 508 sq ft warehouse addition with 0 ft rear setback (15 ft required) and 4 ft side setback (0 ft required). Staff recommended approval. Approved unanimously.
- ZBA #010-23 (1124 Shippan Avenue): Variances to add a second story to a 1920s home: 19 ft front setback from Shippan (25 ft required), 10 ft from Iroquois Road (25 ft required), and 3.5 ft side setback (6 ft required). Approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Hearing on Master Plan Amendment #MP-442 (91 Hope Street): Chair Teresa Dell announced the public hearing would be adjourned to April 25, 2023, at the applicant's request to allow the Land Use Bureau to request additional information. No public testimony was taken. All submitted letters will remain on record.
Key Outcomes
- Capital appropriations for fire apparatus and athletic fields approved.
- Zoning text change and special permit for Armon Hotel approved.
- Two ZBA variances approved.
- Public hearing continued to April 25, 2023.
- Next regular meetings: April 11, 2023 (with policy review on parking/affordable housing and discussion of a proposed marijuana dispensary at Bulls Head) and April 25, 2023.
Meeting Transcript
All right, I've started the recording. Okay, thank you. Good evening. I'd like to welcome you all to the planning Stanford Planning Board's regular meeting and public hearing. Today is Tuesday, March the 28th of 2023. Our meeting is starting at 6 30. William Levin has joined us. So thank you. Welcome, Bill. Our meeting, as everyone knows, is a Zoom webinar. Panelists have been given permission to be viewed. And when our various applications come forward, anyone who is here to address them will be allowed to come forward. All webinar and password passcodes were on our agenda and were filed with the clerk. So anyone wishing to either view it via an iPad, a Mac or a PC can do so. And anyone wishing to do it by phone, there were the numbers there to call us. I'd like to introduce the members here this evening. I'm Teresa Dell, the chair. We have Jay Tepper, who is our vice chair, Jennifer Goodzino, who is our secretary, Michael Bocino, who is a regular member of the planning board, and Stephen Perry and William Levin, who are our two alternates. So we thank you all for being here this evening. And we have uh Lindsay Cohen, who is our associate planner and who helps the uh planning board with all of its uh issues. So we thank you, Lindsay, for being with us this evening. Uh the first item on our agenda is the approval of the minutes for uh Tuesday, March 7th of 2023. Uh Michael Bocino is not able to vote on these as he was not present at uh the last meeting. Uh, did anyone have any corrections or changes to the minutes as filed? Okay. So yes. Okay. I would just note on the um agenda for today's meeting, the March 7th planning board meeting is noted as a regular meeting, but it was a regular meeting and a public hearing. Um, so we'll just we can make that question for the minutes. Hold on one second. I want to see if I'm gonna put myself on mute. I want to see if this is Michael. Okay, I will that was Luke Castle. He will not be presenting on the fields this evening. Okay, thank you, Lindsay. I should have mentioned that it was a regular and a public hearing. Thank you for correcting that. Uh Jay, you wanted to be the first. May I have a second? Second by Stephen. All in favor, show of hands. Passes unanimously. Wait a minute. I'll take that back. Okay, the next item on the agenda is a request for authorization, supplemental capital project appropriations request. Uh, this is for fire apparatus, project C6305. The total request is 1,700,000 for the purchase of two fire engines, approximately $850,000 each before the expected increase in the price of 300,000 in the new physical year and extended lead time of 24 to 36 months. Lindsay, uh Kevin, are you presenting on this? Or can we just do it on our own? Uh, can you make Luke Castlow come on as a presenter?
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