Stamford Zoning Board Meeting - March 28, 2023
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Stamford Zoning Board Meeting - March 28, 2023
Introductory paragraph summarizing the overall meeting. The Stamford Zoning Board met on March 28, 2023, at 6:30 PM via Zoom to hear several applications and text amendments. The meeting opened with an executive session on pending litigation, followed by public hearings on three major development proposals. The board approved a 471-unit mixed-use project on Clinton Avenue and adopted three of four zoning text amendments, while deferring action on a fourth to consult with the law department. Two coastal site plan approvals were also granted.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from March 13, 2023, unanimously approved (4-0).
- CSPR 1164 (renovation at 110 Euclid Avenue) approved with positive EPB and engineering recommendations.
- CSPR 1166 (internal connection at 110 Euclid Avenue) approved with no conditions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kathy Kligler (21 Friar Tuck Lane) expressed concerns about flooding risks and the street-facing architecture of the Clinton Avenue project, requesting more greenery.
- Jeanette Billich Nancy (phone) testified about flood zone concerns and urged higher affordable housing percentages, noting that the Mill River District originally set aside 25% BMR units.
- Susan Pace (Hope Street) and Susan Bell (Hope Street) raised traffic safety concerns regarding proximity to I-95 and the proposed 300 bikes, demanding a traffic study and questioning the need for more apartments given vacancy signs.
- Timothy Herbst (attorney for Marina Bay Condominium Association) expressed conditional support for the Sea View Avenue project, focusing on driveway realignment, bulkhead structural integrity, and access easements. He requested the city commission an independent peer review of the bulkhead.
- Maureen Boylan (61 Sea View Avenue) criticized the process, demanded a new traffic study (since the 2021 study was done during the pandemic), objected to road raising on Marina Bay property without notice, and stressed the need for Harbor Commission and state DEP approvals.
- Barry Michelson (11 Idlewood Drive) commented on text amendments, suggesting the height regulation wording is needlessly complex and questioning the mural regulation and open space substitution.
- Bob Clausy (EPB Executive Director) directed the board to his March 20th referral comments on flood hazard issues for the Sea View Avenue project.
Discussion Items
- Executive Session (10 Rugby Street): The board entered and exited executive session to discuss pending litigation and a potential settlement. The motion to go into executive session passed 4-0.
- Application 221-24 (Old Town Square LLC, 160 Atlantic Street): Continued from February 27. The applicant requested a continuance to April 24, 2023, due to scheduling conflicts. The board granted the continuance.
- Application 222-32 (Clinton Avenue, 471 units): After extensive questioning about the riverwalk (the city is in default, but the applicant has a letter of intent to take over), BMR percentages (10% from the original 2016 approval, not the current 12% regulation), and flood zone compliance, the board approved the project with conditions. Key conditions include 49 BMR units, comprehensive parking/shared vehicle requirements, street tree planting and fee-in-lieu, construction logistics plan, and numerous compliance items. Approved 4-0.
- Applications 222-23/24 (68 Sea View Avenue - zoning map change and site plan): The applicant presented detailed architectural and engineering plans to convert an existing 7-story office building into 52 residential units, with flood mitigation measures including raising the road and elevating the lobby above base flood elevation. The building is in the AE flood zone; the separate marina building touches the VE zone. The city’s peer reviewer agreed with the flood analysis. The hearing was continued to April 3, 2023, after public testimony. The board will deliberate further.
- Application 222-37 (122-124 Broad Street, 198 units): Continued to April 3, 2023, for a full presentation. The planning board had recommended approval with conditions including 24/7 valet attendant.
- Text Amendment 223-05 (Building height definitions): Approved 4-0. Combines height regulations and clarifies measurement in flood zones.
- Text Amendment 223-06 (Definitions - adding/clarifying terms): Deferred to consult with the law department on whether size limits can be placed on murals in residential districts. The board expressed concern about allowing murals as-of-right everywhere. All other changes (commercial streets, density conversion, light/air, mixed-use definition, etc.) were not contested, but the mural provision was held.
- Text Amendment 223-07 (General provisions reorganized): Approved 4-0. Simplifies by moving all general provisions to Section 1.
- Text Amendment 223-08 (Usable open space and indoor amenity space): Approved 4-0. Standardizes requirements: 150 sq ft/unit in medium-density districts, 75 sq ft/unit in high-density; allows substitution of indoor amenity space for open space when near a public park; clarifies that public parks do not substitute for private open space.
- Charter Communications Pedestrian Bridge/Greenway: Staff reported that the bridge design is under third-party review and expected to take about 10 months to fabricate; the greenway design should start concurrently. Estimated completion within a year.
- St. John Towers Fee-in-Lieu Extension: Tabled to next meeting pending additional information.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Application 222-32 (Clinton Avenue) with 26 conditions, including 49 BMR units, 453 parking spaces (37 tandem, 37 EV, 13 shared vehicles), riverwalk commitment via letter of intent, and a construction logistics plan. Vote 4-0.
- Approved: CSPR 1164 and CSPR 1166 (coastal site plans).
- Adopted: Text amendments 223-05, 223-07, and 223-08.
- Deferred: Text amendment 223-06 (murals) for legal review; 221-24 continued to April 24; 222-23/24 and 222-37 continued to April 3.
- Next Meeting: April 3, 2023, at 6:30 PM on Zoom, with continued hearings on Sea View Avenue and Broad Street projects.
Meeting Transcript
We can get I think we can start now. The number stable. Okay. I'd like to welcome everyone in call tonight zoning board meeting to order. I'm David Stein, chair of the zoning board, and it is 6 30 p.m. on March 27, 2023. The members of the board and staff are holding this meeting by Zoom video conference. The public is in attendance both on video conference and by teleconference. First, I'd like to do a roll call of the board and the staff. Bill Morris. Here. Roseanne McManus. Here. Jerry Bozak. Present. And Raquel Smith Anderson is not with us tonight. And for the staff, Ralph Blessing. Present. And Vanita Matter. During tonight's meeting, the microphones for the board will be open throughout. Applicants' mics will be open during the public hearing portion when their application is being heard. However, I would ask the applicant to please mute their mics when not speaking in order to reduce the background noise. After a um there's a one item on for the regular meeting, which is the first item we're hearing. Then we go into the public hearing, during which the public will have an opportunity to speak. Each member of the public will be muted until it is your turn to speak. And here's the procedure for members of the public who would like to speak. If you came through Zoom, please use the raise your hand function and you will be unmuted when it's your turn. Excuse me. If you called in on one of the telephone conference call phone numbers, press star nine, and this will raise your hand. Then press star six to unmute when it's your turn to speak. When members of the public speak, we'd ask you to please give us your name and address for the record and whether you are in favor or opposed to the application. The board requests that members of the public limit your comments to three minutes so that everyone will have a chance to speak. In addition, you can find the agenda for tonight's meeting and all of the meeting applications and other materials by going to our website, which is www.stanford ct.gov slash zoning. In addition, uh going back, if you have a problem getting on, uh and the zoom and the telephone conference call um raise your hand function is not working. You can um send an email to Vanita. Umita, can you please give your email? Yes, it's V M E T H U R at Stanford C T dot gov. Good. Thank you. Um the first item we have is um a regular meeting item. It's City of Stanford versus 10 rugby street discussion regarding pending litigation and possible settlement. Can I get a motion, please, to go into executive session on this? So moved. Second. Okay, any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Okay, 4-0. Uh, we're going into executive session. So for those um folks on the line, that means we're going to get off here and go into uh a separate Zoom while we discuss this because it is a litigation matter.
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