Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting - January 29, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting - January 29, 2025
The Stamford Planning Board held a regular meeting on January 29, 2025, via Zoom. The board elected officers, approved minutes, authorized a lease amendment for skilled nursing facilities, approved two supplemental capital appropriations, and reviewed three zoning referrals. All votes were recorded with specific outcomes.
Consent Calendar
- Meeting minutes from December 17, 2024 (regular), December 19, 2024 (special – capital budget), and January 7, 2025 (capital budget public hearing) were approved after amendments to include dissenting members' reasoning. Motion carried unanimously for each.
Discussion Items
- Election of Officers: Jennifer Viceno was nominated and elected Chair (4-0). Jay Tupper was nominated and elected Vice Chair (4-0, with one abstention).
- Amended & Restated Lease for Smith House Skilled Nursing Facility and Scofield Manor (88 Rock Rimmon Road): Bridget Fox (Chief of Staff) and Chris Delaselva presented. The lease transfers operation/management of Scofield Manor from Charter Oak Communities to Smith House Operating, LLC. Key terms: rent reduced from $2,000/month to $1/year, purchase option reduced from $7,000,000 to $1,000, city responsible for first $250,000 of state-required corrective measures, lessee may mortgage up to 80% of property value, and property must be used for public purpose (defined as chronic care, residential care, skilled nursing, senior housing, or as amended). Discussion clarified that the city will no longer incur operating costs (currently ~$650K/year) and that future use changes require board approval. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
- Supplemental Capital Appropriation – Lakeside Drive Bridge (Project #CP4000012, $15,115.93): City Engineer Lou Castle explained the change order funded entirely by Aquarion for installing butterfly valves due to deeper-than-expected water main. Motion approved unanimously.
- Supplemental Capital Appropriation – Board of Education Security Upgrades (Project #C53143, $81,450): Kevin McCarthy (Director of Facility Operations) presented. Grant from CT Department of Emergency Services (60% reimbursement) will fund approximately 100 security cameras across five middle schools. Motion approved unanimously.
- Zoning Board Referral – ZB 224-35 (25 DeBera Lane): Applicant Ilana Kallman proposed critical reconstruction of a historic gardener's cottage and two additional dwelling units using historic preservation bonuses. Height was reduced by 3 feet (to 27'11" to mid-roof) based on prior ZB feedback. Historic Preservation Advisory Commission supported the revised plans and addition to the Cultural Resources Inventory. Board asked about historic significance; it is tied to the Weber family (founding family) and the street character. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
- Zoning Board of Appeals Referral – ZBA 002-25 (56 Carroll Street): Owner Yekaterina Gonella & Jose Gonella Perez requested variances for front setbacks (30 ft reduced to 15 ft and 55 ft reduced to 35 ft) to add a second-floor addition over existing footprint. Hardship noted: house built in 1924 pre-dates zoning, and neighborhood dwellings share similar non-conformity. No expansion of footprint. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
- Zoning Board of Appeals Referral – ZBA 004-25 (31 Hobson Street): Owner George Zaki & Yana Rozman requested four variances to add a garage bay and second-story above garage on a corner lot with existing non-conforming setbacks. Staff noted the hardship argument (increased parking needs, parents moving in) may not meet legal standards, but the lot is pre-zoning and non-conforming. Applicant showed plans do not increase encroachment beyond existing building lines. Board split: three voted in favor (Chair, Jay Tupper, Ravi Subramanian), one voted in opposition (Chet Sollett). Motion carried 3-1. Chet stated opposition due to adding mass on both street frontages without considering alternative designs.
Key Outcomes
- Elections: Jennifer Viceno elected Chair; Jay Tupper elected Vice Chair (both 4-0).
- Lease Amendment: Approved unanimously.
- Lakeside Drive Bridge Change Order: Approved unanimously.
- BOE Security Grant: Approved unanimously.
- 25 DeBera Lane (Historic Reconstruction): Approved unanimously.
- 56 Carroll Street Variance: Approved unanimously.
- 31 Hobson Street Variances: Approved 3-1 (Chet Sollett dissenting). The applicant will proceed to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Unfinished Business: The capital budget recommendation is still being finalized; Chair Viceno will schedule a meeting with member Sollett to reconcile feedback.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. We are going to open our uh January 28th uh meeting of the Stanford Planning Board. Um introducing board. Um my name is Jennifer Viceno, currently vice chair. Um Jay Tupper Um Chair, uh Chet Silent, alternate, uh Ravi Supramian, uh Secretary and William Levin, uh alternate. Um our first order of point of order just for a moment. Um you I think you just announced Jay Tepper as chair. He resigned officially at the other meeting, and and you're now the acting. I'm the acting chair, sure. Yes. Point of order. Um so um he as acting chair. Um I'll note that the first order of business is um approving our planning board minutes from the last three meetings. Uh the first being um the minutes from December 17th regular meeting. Um any questions or corrections on the minutes for December 17th. Um is that the one that yeah, I had a concern about, I think you weren't at that meeting. Um I voted against a uh townhouse project for two or three reasons. I wanted to make sure that those are passed along to uh to the zoning board, and I didn't receive those minutes for some reason. I'm not sure when they were sent, but they were recent with the latest packet. Oh really? Yeah. On the townhouse bill, they they did at least address uh one of your comments. I remember reading it in minutes. So I can read the uh section that speaks to uh Mr. Levin's reasoning. So it says uh Mr. Levin stated the reasons for his opposition to ZB number 224-37 and 224-38 are that the amount of usable open space proposed is inadequate and that the garage is fronting on all internal streets is a poor design. Okay, I guess that summarizes it. Um by the way, I this may not be the right time to do this, but I did visit two other developments done by the same builder, uh Toll Brothers, both in uh Westchester County, and it's a little different because they had more land to work with there, but in both of those uh they had went with the alley concept where the houses didn't all have garage doors on all the fronts, and it's much more attractive, but I believe the reason they didn't do that in this project is because they they had a much smaller piece of property to work. I also think that attractive is a subjective term. Yeah, well, I think most people agree that an entire street lined with garage doors uh block after block is not attractive, but I it's still subjective, you're right. Um so chat. Yeah, and similarly on the uh I guess this is one of the reasons why I brought it up um before the meeting. Um also on the 17th in connection with um one of the two of the uh 19 Halpin uh uh avenue um things that we looked at. I can't remember if it was the master uh the master plan amendment or the the map change. Uh I voted no as well, specifically because of the um the the poor quality of the accessible design associated with that. I'd like that noted if it can. Okay, so that was the first item, the master plan amendment. Um just looking through um it was actually so the master plan amendment, it was all unanimously approved. Okay, um, and then the following zoning board application number 224-34. Chet uh did oppose. And yeah, I don't see a rationale. And I don't see a rationale either. Okay. So we can add one. Thank you. Saying that Mr. Sollett stated his reasoning for opposition was because of the inadequacy of the accessible design portion of the project. Lindsay. Can I make one more brief comment about the the other project?
openpublica.com