ANSONIA – A developer is asking a court to overturn a decision of the planning and zoning commission that prohibited 91 age-restricted apartments at 126 Ford St.
The plans called for the apartments to fill a long-vacant former nursing home property but were rejected by the city March 2.
An appeal was filed with Superior Court March 23 by developer Wellspring Development LLC and landowner THCI Company LLC.
Members of the planning and zoning commission “acted illegally, arbitrarily and in abuse of the discretion invested in it by law,” according to the appeal, written by Dominick Thomas, the developer’s lawyer.
The appeal asks for the commission’s decision to be overturned, as well as for the planning and zoning commission to cover court costs.
Wellspring Development, owned by New Haven-based developer Adam Haston, had sought to convert the 47,187-square foot former Hilltop Health Center nursing home into age-restricted studio apartments.
The property, which has been vacant since 2013, is owned by THCI Company LLC (formerly known as Meditrust of Connecticut).
Haston’s application for a special exception permit could have allowed him to move forward on the redevelopment proposal. However, neighbors opposed the idea, saying it would generate too much traffic on the hilltop.
Appeal Says Commissioners’ Concerns Were Improper
Before the commission voted to reject the application, commissioner Maureen McCormack voiced concerns regarding traffic and the proposed living space of the apartments, which were shown in plans to be about 350 square feet each.
The appeal says the commission should not have considered apartment size in rejecting the application.
“The concern of the defendant as to the size of the proposed rental units and the size or density of the common areas is not within the jurisdiction of the defendant and not a general standard for consideration of a special exception application,” the appeal states.
It also says the commission’s concerns about traffic were based on public speculation and not data. It says the evidence submitted – which included a report from a traffic engineer hired by the developer – showed the area could handle the traffic impact.
“There is no evidence in the record to support claims of the defendant of traffic problems which claims were based on speculation of the public and the defendant,” the appeal says.
Commission chairman Jared Heon told The Valley Indy in an email that the appeal had been referred to the city’s legal counsel.
Heon said the commission acted with the discretion given to it by law.
“The Commission ran a very transparent process, spanning months, that included public hearings and meetings, with participation from staff, commissioners, the public, and the applicant’s team,” Heon said. “In fact, attorney Thomas, who represented the applicant, stated on numerous occasions that the commission has the ability to exercise discretion based on the adaptive reuse regulation. Apparently, the discretion that attorney Thomas alluded to numerous times is not in his client’s favor, so he filed an appeal.”
Haston, the developer and owner of Wellspring Development, previously converted a 29-unit apartment complex on Springside Avenue in New Haven to 42 apartments, according to tax assessor records. He also led the conversion of a former Meriden hotel into 165 apartments in 2021.
Appeal Asks For Proposal To Move Forward
If the appeal succeeds in court, it doesn’t mean the housing proposal would automatically go through. However, it would allow Wellspring Development to submit a site plan application for the age-restricted apartment proposal.
That application would also be subject to a public hearing before the commission could vote on it.
A hearing over the appeal has not been scheduled as of March 30.
