Ansonia’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved a zone change Monday that paves the way for the city’s housing authority to develop “lower density” affordable housing on Olson Drive.
But don’t expect shovels to be in the ground there for awhile — housing authority officials told the PZC Monday that ground-breaking for the redevelopment could be as many as two years away, after more specific plans for the redevelopment are vetted by federal and local officials.
Housing officials unveiled “preliminary” plans last month for a 48-unit affordable housing development on Olson Drive.
Olson Drive was once home to 165 apartments, built after the Flood of 1955.
The housing authority has bulldozed 105 units since 2009.
The property now has 60 apartments — but the plan is to remove those apartment buildings as well.
Troy White, the Ansonia Housing Authority executive director, said his agency is completing an application to remove the remaining buildings.
The application should be completed within a week. It will then be submitted to HUD for approval. The approval process could take as many as five months.
The housing authority then wants to redevelop the property with:
- Six one-bedroom apartments
- 16 two-bedroom apartments
- 24 three-bedroom apartments
- Two four-bedroom apartments
Total: 48 Apartments
But first the housing authority needed a zone change allowing lower-density housing with a “townhouse-style” look.
Public Hearing, Approval
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the proposed zone change proposal Monday.
Most of the comments on the proposal came from housing authority officials themselves supporting it.
A few nearby property owners wondered whether the redevelopment plans would impact the value of their own real estate.
If anything, housing authority officials said that the new development — less dense, with more green space and “buffers” between neighboring properties — would help neighboring property values.
The current apartments reflect outdated urban planning which packed government-assisted housing into a small area.
Edward Norman, the vice chairman of the housing authority and a resident of nearby Grove Street, said the “townhouse-style” homes will be an improvement over the “barracks-style” buildings that have been there since 1963.
Article continues below the sketches for the project:
Click the play button on the video above to see the housing authority’s lawyer, James Sheehy, discuss the zone change, as well as for comments by White, the housing authority’s executive director.
After the hearing, the members of the commission voted unanimously to change the zoning of the property as requested by the housing authority.
Michael Bettini, a member of the commission, said the plans represent “a very good thing for Ansonia.”
“It’s a good change that fits in with the existing neighborhood nicely,” he said.
Chairman Bart Flaherty said the plan conforms to the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development’s goal of reducing housing density in the city, and would enhance the Olson Drive area with new housing.
Flaherty noted that the housing authority will need to submit more specific site plans to the planning and zoning commission for approval before construction actually begins.
The commission approved a zone change only — not the actual housing plans.
Housing authority officials said they will now submit their plans to other city departments, such as the fire marshal, for their review and input.
Sheehy, the housing authority’s lawyer, told the commission that the more specific site plans for the site would be submitted “probably within the next 24 months.”
Meanwhile …
The housing authority’s plans are only one component of a larger development of the site. In May, Mayor David Cassetti unveiled rough plans to put a new public safety facility on a portion of the land.
The city wants to build on Olson Drive near the intersection with Pershing Drive, where the Tinney Community Center sat.
Cassetti said his “vision” for the property includes:
- A new police department,
- A new fire department facility, possibly a multi-bay firehouse, regional training facility, and/or communications center,
- A “municipal community center” — though architectural renderings unveiled Thursday do not include any buildings marked as such,
- And a small amount of retail space.
Though city officials had envisioned preserving a chunk of the site as “open space,” they were shut down by federal housing officials and a discrimination complaint filed by a former resident of the Riverside Apartments.
In May the city entered into a “conciliation agreement” calling for the redevelopment of affordable housing on the site — and the right of current residents to return there once it is redeveloped.
The agreement calls for the city and housing authority to file quarterly updates with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development showing they aren’t dragging their feet on the redevelopment plans.
