An appellate court has denied the town’s appeal of a Superior Court decision allowing a developer to build affordable housing.
The project will be built on 41-acres along Donovan and Hurley Roads.
Original Decision
In a written decision in November, Judge John W. Pickard said the Oxford Planning and Zoning Commission erred when it rejected an application from Garden Homes Management Corp. to build a 113-unit housing complex. Thirty-five of the units were to be considered affordable, as defined by state law.
The commission’s reasons for denying the mobile home community did “not clearly outweigh the need for affordable housing in Oxford,” the judge wrote.
Since 1991, state law “has required all municipalities to adopt zoning regulations that ‘promote housing choice and economic diversity in housing, including housing for both low and moderate income households,’” the judge wrote.
“The Oxford (zoning) regulations do not contain any provisions which seriously address this requirement,” Pickard wrote.
The judge also pointed out that just 1.1 percent of the housing stock in Oxford qualifies as affordable, “ranking Oxford near the bottom of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities.”
Appeal
In late November, the Board of Selectmen, the Inland Wetlands Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission all said they were in favor of appealing Judge Pickard’s decision.
In the meantime, the town is finally trying to draft affordable housing regulations — the lack of which played a large role in the town’s loss in the first place. A moratorium on affordable housing applications is now in place. However, that moratorium does not include this application.
The appellate court issued notice March 10 denying Oxford’s attempt to appeal. The court also denied Garden Homes’ attempt to overturn a Inland Wetland rejection of the project.
Richard Freedman, president of Garden Homes Management Corp., said the court’s rejection of Oxford’s appeal means he could be able to build 142 houses on the property.
Thirty percent of the houses would be affordable, Freedman said. The project has to be tweaked to keep it away from wetland.
“We are essentially starting over with 142 homes in the plan,” he said.
Pat Cocchiarella, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said he was “saddened” by the court’s decision.
“I was really hoping the court would listen to us,” he said.
Charles Andres, the Planning and Zoning Commission’s attorney and Town Attorney Fran Teodesio could not be reached for comment.
Cocchiarella issued a statement on the matter March 23. It reads:
“Personally, I believe it is a sad day when the State of Connecticut and its courts deny a community the right to determine its own character, population density, and land use. The United States of America came into existence because people wanted the right to self-determination. Communities in Connecticut are denied these rights under current state laws. Local land use commissions, duly elected by the people as their representatives are prohibited from making decisions based on the fiscal impact of a project on the community and / or the change in the community’s character that would result from it. A reading of the legislative record indicates that these statutes are being used in a manner far in excess of the purposes originally intended by our lawmakers. These statues effectively destroy the uniqueness that has historically characterized Connecticut cities and towns and made Connecticut a desirable place to live and do business. Our only recourse is to elect representatives to the state legislature who will reexamine these state statues and correct the inequities that these onerous regulations impose on the communities of Connecticut.”
Looks like the REPUBLICAN plan of fighting these types of cases in court, as was Haversat’s plan in the campaign, was wrong! (Strike 1)
Not only did Haversat want to fight in court, but he and the Republcans said Oxford didn’t need any new regulations. (Strike 2)
Let’s hope the Republicans learn their lesson before Strike 3 or they will forever look like a bunch of fools.
Thank-you to Palmer, the Carvers, and Keep Oxford Green for sticking your collective noses in something you new little or nothing about. Politics and land use decisions do not mix-look at Shelton. Pat should be sad. He was more interested in getting elected and becoming chair than in doing the right thing and speaking up when he had the chance. I am also sorry to say that, in speaking with Haversat about this before the election, he was unable to grasp the concepts and nuances of the affordable housing issue. By the time any regs are put in place, Oxford will already have close to the 10% affordable housing stock mandated by the state from the 118 units at Garden Homes, 142 units from Zaloumis (sp?), and the units at Crest View Ridge (45 or so).
Oxford residents can and should clearly blame Palmer/Haversat and Keep Oxford Green (Tanya & Ed Carver) for changing the future face of Oxford. They prevented regulations from being written in a timely way for selfish, political gain. They should never, ever be elected to any office in Oxford.
I agree with all the below comments. KOG was not the color they had in mind. Then palmer and carver have the gall to support the P&Z review of the regulations after the election. More B.S.
These two will ruin the town forevermore.
Wonder what the Board of Education chair will do now about class sizes?? This situation should fall back to the negative campaign and the lies.
To the Editor:
The Oxford Inland Wetlands Conservation Commission won their the original appeal that was filed in superior court. There were 2 appeals filed in Superior Court. One was filed by the applicant Richard Freedman (RF) of Garden Homes & the other was by the Town of Oxford (OX) because the Town of Oxford lost in Superior Court. The judge overturned the town’s denial by P&Z. RF was trying to overturn the OCCIWA decision because the judge sided with that commission. The Oxford Planning & Zoning Commission lost & the judge overturned their decision from denial to an approval. In essence, what happened was RF filed an appeal in the appellate court to overturn the OCCIWA decision by the judge in superior court (the judge agreed with the town to deny based on the impacts & feasible & prudent alternatives exist) & OX filed an appeal in the appellate court to overturn the judge’s decision to issue an approval because he overturned it! Ok? Just wanted to clarify that!!!
Also, this current Planning & Zoning Commission is a big joke & circus! They have no clue including the chairman!
KOG…really nothing you can do to prevent 8-30g! The best you can do is tie it up in court & or try to work with the developers! The town & zoning comm were clearly uneducated in making that decision to return the grant money (FREE) for the Housing Incentive we received! We could’ve had regulations adopted & approved by now! Another political move! Sad! Now we have another affordable housing 8-30g application! There is no way you can deny that one! Oxford needs it anyway & it is a decent & good project! Just my thoughts!
And let’s place blame where blame is due and that is on KOG, Palmer, and the Republicans because they turned this grant opportunity into a circus and made it the political centerpiece of their campaign, which is why Haversat failed to win.