Stamford Zoning Board Meeting - April 25, 2023
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Stamford Zoning Board Meeting - April 25, 2023
The Stamford Zoning Board met on April 25, 2023, via Zoom to consider several applications, including a hotel conversion, residential conversion of an office building, and a new mixed-use development. The meeting also addressed text amendments to zoning regulations and a coastal site plan review. Several items were continued to future meetings, and public testimony was heard on two major projects. The board also approved a minor coastal site plan.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Seaview House (68 Seaview Avenue): Members of the public, including representatives from the Marina Bay Association, expressed concerns about bulkhead integrity, flood zone compliance, tree removal, and potential impacts on views. Some residents supported the project, citing the need for housing and improved safety. The applicant's attorney responded to criticisms, noting that the bulkhead is structurally independent and that the road elevation will improve flood resilience.
- Broad Street Mixed-Use (122-124 Broad Street): Multiple speakers supported the project, including neighboring property owners, business owners, and the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, citing economic benefits and improved pedestrian safety. One resident opposed the project, citing traffic congestion and loss of green space. The Malloy Realty representative raised concerns about truck circulation and delivery access, arguing that the proposed plan does not allow adequate maneuvering for large vehicles. The applicant's attorney disputed these claims, stating that the plan has been reviewed by the city's traffic engineer and that no recorded easement exists for the Malloy property.
Discussion Items
- Continuation of Hotel Application (221-24): The board continued the public hearing for a proposed hotel at 160 Atlantic Street to May 22, 2023, at the applicant's request. The board requested additional renderings and floor plans.
- Seaview House Conversion (222-23, 222-24): The board discussed flood zone compliance, including FEMA requirements and the role of the Environmental Protection Board (EPB). The applicant agreed to a condition that no building permit will be issued until full FEMA compliance is determined. Board members expressed support for the concept but emphasized the need to resolve flood issues. The public hearing was continued to May 8, 2023, to allow the applicant to provide additional information on parking, open space, landscaping, and a photometric plan.
- Broad Street Mixed-Use (222-37): The board reviewed an amended parking plan and the design of the Gay Street underpass. The applicant presented a valet parking plan to meet the 210-space requirement. Concerns were raised about truck circulation behind the building, with the Malloy Realty's traffic engineer arguing that large trucks cannot maneuver safely. The board requested that the city's Traffic & Transportation staff review the circulation concerns. The public hearing was continued to May 8, 2023.
- Text Amendments (223-09, 223-10, 223-11): The board opened three text change applications to streamline zoning regulations. The proposed deletion of medical marijuana language was removed from application 223-10 due to public misunderstanding. All three text changes were continued to May 8, 2023.
Key Outcomes
- CSPR 1167 (64 Llewellyn Road): Approved unanimously without conditions for a second-story addition within the Coastal Area Management boundary.
- Continuances:
- Application 221-24 (Hotel) continued to May 22, 2023.
- Applications 222-23 and 222-24 (Seaview House) continued to May 8, 2023.
- Application 222-37 (Broad Street) continued to May 8, 2023.
- Text amendments 223-09, 223-10, and 223-11 continued to May 8, 2023.
- Next Steps: The board will meet on May 8, 2023, and a possible additional meeting on May 18, 2023, was discussed to address the backlog.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, we can get started David. Okay. I'd like to welcome everyone and call tonight's zoning board meeting to order. I'm David Stein, Chair of the Zoning Board, and it is 6 30 on April 24th, 2023. The members of the zoning board and the staff are holding this meeting by Zoom video conference. The public is in attendance both by video conference and teleconference. First, I'd like to call a role of the board and the staff. Bill Morris. Here. Roseanne McManus. Here. Jerry Bozak. Here. Or Kel Smith Anderson. Here. Now for the staff, Ralph Blessing. Vanita Matter. Here. Okay. We have a full compliment. During tonight's meeting, the microphones for the board will be on throughout the meeting. Applicants' mics will be open during the public hearing for their application. However, I would ask the applicant to please mute your mics when not speaking in order to reduce background noise. The first part of tonight's meeting is 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. Here's the procedure for the public to let us know that you would like to speak. If you came in through Zoom, please use the raise your hand function and you will be unmuted when it's your turn to speak. 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 speech, please give us your name and address for the record and whether you're 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. Tonight's meeting will be recorded and posted on the zoning board's website. And you can find tonight's agenda for this meeting and the application materials by going to our website at www.stamford ct.gov slash zoning. But a couple of uh housekeeping things first. Um we are seating uh Roquel Smith Anderson as voting member at tonight's meeting. Uh next, the um there's a pre-application conference scheduled uh for um a piece of property which is next to Curley's. There is uh it's the last item on tonight's agenda. Um we hope we will get to it, um, but uh there's a possibility that uh we will not if if everything else runs too long. Um and um next, there's been a lot of um a lot of attention given to the cannabis issue. Um of the items on tonight's agenda is a text change um submitted by the zoning board and staff, uh which would clean up some of the sections of the uh of the zoning regulations. One of those items was a deletion of an introductory paragraph or medical marijuana. Um there seems to have been some misunderstanding that this deletion somehow um meant that recreational marijuana would be um easier to um the dispensaries would be easier to establish. That is not the case. Um, this language was purely uh housekeeping matter. Um however, to avoid um the uh misunderstanding, we are not going to consider that deletion tonight. So it's being removed from the text change. Um that language will remain as the introductory paragraph for medical marijuana. The other thing is we are not taking up tonight the um dispensary on at Bullshead. That uh is scheduled for a couple of meetings from now. So if there's anyone here who wants to discuss um marijuana dispensaries or that one in particular, we will not be um hearing it tonight.
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