ANSONIA – Residents near the former police station on Elm Street said a proposal to build 14 apartments on the property would create parking problems in the city’s historic district.

At a public hearing held at Ansonia High School Dec. 8, eight members of the public voiced their thoughts on the proposal. Seven of the speakers, including two recently elected Aldermen, said they had problems with the proposal. One speaker voiced support for it.

The proposal, from Ansonia-based developer Fredi Lalaj, asks for a special exception to convert the 22,577-square foot station into 14 apartments. The plan includes 19 parking spaces.

Lalaj had originally proposed installing a data center on the site when he purchased the property in 2023. However, the company he wanted to have as a tenant went bankrupt, according to statements from former city officials.

Resident Andrew Adamczyk said it makes no sense to install apartments on the site. He said the developer should have had a backup plan for its planned tenant going under.

“There is no hardship here. The owners knew, or should have known, when they purchased the property, that they were buying an old building on less than a half-acre in a historic district, in a neighborhood zoned for one- and two-family houses,” Adamczyk said. “They also knew or should have known Ansonia’s parking requirements. You don’t buy a piece of property in the hopes that maybe a wizard will grant you a variance.”

Resident Cathy Cwilichoski said she already struggles to leave her driveway due to traffic in the area. She said the proposed apartments would make the issue worse.

“The traffic and the accidents and the horn-beeping are outrageous now. To put more people on that intersection, I think, is dangerous,” Cwilichoski said.

Cwilichoski said she moved to the area because of its status as a historic district and that apartments wouldn’t fit the neighborhood.

Barbara Weisz, who lives nearby on Remer Street, voiced similar concerns and asked for a traffic study to be done. She said children are already in danger navigating the surrounding streets during school pick-up and drop-offs.

“The amount of traffic that’s going around that corner of Elm Street and up Platt Street to get to every one of those schools, and the school buses, is incredible,” Weisz said.

Dibran Trepca, a realtor who lives nearby, spoke in support of the application. He said the parking spaces near the Bella Vista apartments on Main Street are rarely full, and that the parking in Lalaj’s proposal seemed reasonable to him.

Commission member Dana Haigh said after the hearing that he wants to send the sale back to the Board of Aldermen for reconsideration.

Past Aldermen have said they want to consider buying the property back, since they sold it with the understanding it would become a data center. The two newly elected Aldermen who spoke in the hearing similarly stated they had serious problems with the proposal.

Alderwoman Lisa Glazer said she attended the building for school, before it was converted into a police station in 1980. She said the proposal would damage nearby property values in the historic district.

“What I care about is the people who have invested for decades in those properties, all of a sudden losing their shirts, because who wants to buy that house?” Glazer said.

Alderman Karl Williams said the proposal does not include enough parking. He said the developer should buy the neighboring, city-owned property at 70 Platt St. to make room for more.

Commission chairman Jared Heon said he was closing the public hearing – as opposed to continuing it to a later date – in part because Lalaj’s representative, Michael Mastrogiacomo, did not show up. 

The planning & zoning commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Dec. 29.