ANSONIA – Planning & zoning officials asked the city’s newly elected lawmakers to consider charging downtown developers to use public parking lots in their applications.

“There’s been comments about the overuse, or potential overuse, of various city lots throughout the downtown area,” said Jared Heon, chairman of the commission.

Heon’s request for a new city ordinance came as part of a Dec. 8 public hearing over an application to build four apartments and retail space on 103 Main St. The application includes no on-site parking, citing the fact that the building is in the dense city center and close to public parking lots.

After a presentation from Michael Marcinek, appearing on behalf of Staten Island developers Dritero and Ili Klobucista, commissioner Dana Haigh said he was worried about the public parking lots being overused.

Haigh cited comments from Ansonia Police Chief Wayne Williams, who wrote that developers in recent years have increasingly asked to use the city’s parking spots in lieu of making their own.

“I just wanted to make sure that everyone here at the public hearing knows that public officials outside of the city board members are worried about things like that,” Haigh said after paraphrasing Williams’ comments.

Heon said the city is not currently allowed to charge developers to use its lots.

“Right now, we’re not allowed to assess any type of charge for anyone coming in with an application to utilize the city parking spaces to meet their application requirements,” Heon said. “If there was an established ordinance that required some type of maintenance agreement, or some type of fee structure on an annual basis or something like that, obviously there would be a little bit more benefit to the city.”

According to Ansonia’s zoning regulations, most developments in its city center zone are not required to have private parking, as long as they’re within 300 feet of a public parking lot.

That zone roughly follows the banks of the Naugatuck River, starting at Division Street in the south and working its way up along streets including Main Street and Pershing Drive, ending on Franklin Street along the west river bank and Maple Street on the east bank. 

Public parking facilities in the area include lots by the ARMS building on West Main Street, the police station/senior center on Main Street, and a lot on East Main Street, with about 470 parking spots between them. 

Downtown developments, including the Bella Vista complex that could include more than 200 apartments once it’s finished, have used those lots in order to reduce or eliminate the need to build more onsite parking.

Heon said that requiring developers to pay a fee to use public parking would be helpful, especially as state legislators seek to make it easier to build housing throughout the state.

“We’re getting more applications like this. This is the type of area that we’re encouraged to do this type of development. That’s the way the state is looking, in a downtown district with public transportation. But with that, public transportation has to be paid for, and it’s just something to consider,” Heon said.

He said he’s asked past boards of Aldermen to consider a similar parking measure, but that nothing has come of it so far.

Commission members voted to close the public hearing over the 103 Main St. proposal. The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 29.