ANSONIA – Eleven Ansonia residents said in a public hearing Monday (Feb. 9) they were worried about the impacts of a proposal which could bring 91 age-restricted apartments to Ford Street.

During the hearing, residents also submitted a petition signed by 37 neighbors saying they were opposed to the proposal. Members of the planning and zoning commission closed the public hearing after more than two hours, voting to table the matter.

The commissioners now have 65 days to decide whether to approve the special exception application from New Haven developer Adam Haston.

Haston’s proposal seeks a special exception to convert the 47,187-square foot former Hilltop Health Center nursing home at 126 Ford St. into studio apartments. Plans shared in the meeting show 110 parking spaces.

Chester Street resident Evelyn Kish, who also spoke at a previous public hearing about the proposal, said she’s worried an apartment complex could lower the value of her home nearby.

“This is my retirement fund when I sell it, okay? I don’t want anything to disturb that fund, okay, and that’s my personal feeling. I would just like to say, I’d like the area to stay as quiet as it is,” Kish said.

Kish also said she’s worried the finished complex won’t look like the one shown in a presentation and in site plans, drawing applause from the audience.

John Lawlor, who lives on Michael Street, said the proposal was like making a deal with the devil. Like Kish, he said he wants the neighborhood to keep its quiet character.

“Ansonia cannot continue to sell its soul to the devil in the name of property tax revenue,” Lawlor said.

Lawlor said the city can find another proposal for the property, which has been vacant since the healthcare facility closed in 2013.

“If Adam Haston walks away, then we’ll find somebody else who wishes to move into that property,” Lawlor said.

Attorney Dominick Thomas, who represents the developer, said the city is unlikely to find a better use for the property. He said Haston’s proposal would likely bring in between $130,000 and $180,000 in new tax revenue to the city.

Alderman Tyler Kennedy, who represents the city’s First Ward, said the proposal’s revenue wasn’t worth the impact it would have on the neighborhood.

“Ultimately, $120,000 in tax revenue is not even close to enough,” Kennedy said during the public hearing.

Thomas responded directly to comments made by Kennedy and others, saying that the alternative to bringing in new revenue is raising taxes.

“I suppose you could look at it and say, no, we’re not interested,” Thomas said. “I’d like the same people to go to the (board of apportionment and taxation) and tell them, when the time comes for them to raise the taxes, you’re not worried about it. Just raise my taxes, I don’t care.”

Ernie Marino, who lives next to the property and delivered the neighborhood petition against the proposal, said traffic in the area is bad as-is, since multiple schools are nearby.

“People take their kids to school and there’s a line, I don’t know how long. But if I’ve got to go downtown in the morning, or if I have to go see my mother, you have to jog around so many cars, it’s impossible,” Marino said.

Thomas said the age restriction would attract seniors who live quietly and tend to drive at off-peak hours, minimizing traffic impact.

Kermit Hua, a traffic engineer for the developer, said the data doesn’t back up residents’ traffic concerns. He said traffic studies show the nursing home generated more traffic.

“As a traffic engineer, I see no problem with this development. From a traffic standpoint, Ford Street certainly can handle the limited traffic it will generate,” Hua said.

However, multiple residents said their own experiences conflict with the data. 

Haston spoke to the public after the hearing, saying that he has successfully spearheaded similar housing redevelopments in other parts of the state. He previously converted a 29-unit apartment complex on Springside Avenue in New Haven to 42 apartments, according to tax assessor records, and he led the conversion of a former Meriden hotel into 165 apartments in 2021.

The commissioners could discuss the proposal again at a meeting scheduled Feb. 23 at city hall.

The Feb. 9 public hearing was delayed three times from its original scheduled date of Dec. 29, due to a clerical error, a winter storm, and a scheduling conflict.