The Derby Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday approved a zone change that could pave the way for four homes to be built off Belleview Drive.
The change was for a plot zoned partially light industrial, and partially residential.
Derby developer Ray Sadlik wanted to change the industrial portion to residential to eventually allow him to apply for the four-home subdivision.
Residents of Belleview, content with their quiet loop road and concerned about increased traffic and drainage issues, strongly opposed the change.
The commission approved the change 5 – 2, with commissioners Glenn Stevens and Albert Misiewicz opposing.
The Discussion
The proposal was only for the zone change. Any proposal for homes would have to come before the commission separately at a later date.
“You have to take out anything that might be in the future and use your head,” commission Chairman Theodore Estwan warned commissioners during their discussion on the proposal.
But commissioners couldn’t help talking about what each of the zones could mean in terms of future development on the land.
The current zone would allow light industrial uses such as an office building, storage units or parked trailers.
The zone change creates one residential building lot. If Sadlik wants to build four homes, he’ll need to get a separate approval from the commission to subdivide the property.
“Approving the zone change gives the commission a lot more flexibility and control over the development of that parcel than we have over the IC zone,” commissioner David Rogers said.
Rogers argued that the residential zone would require a larger buffer between the property and the existing homes on Belleview.
The Petition
Neighbors said they were worried about traffic, as well as whether more homes would be a good addition to Derby’s tax base. They said people and pets have been injured on the street — and that things would only get worse Sadlik develops the land.
They gathered names on a petition, hoping to require a super-majority vote to pass the zone change. The city’s attorney determined they didn’t have enough signatures to require a super majority — five of the commission’s seven members. That’s how the vote went down, regardless.
Several residents were present at the meeting.
One, who declined to give his name, said afterward: “We have to live with it. It may be fine.”
Others stormed out as the decision was made.
