ANSONIA – A public hearing over a proposed 91-unit, age-restricted housing complex on Ford Street was postponed from Feb. 2 to Feb. 9.
The new hearing is scheduled to be held 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, in the Ansonia High School auditorium (20 Pulaski Highway).
The proposal, from New Haven developer Adam Haston, seeks a special exception to convert the 47,187-square foot former Hilltop Health Center nursing home at 126 Ford St. into studio apartments. There will be 115 parking spaces, according to plans.
The building has been vacant since 2013, when the nursing home closed.
The hearing, which was originally scheduled Dec. 29, has been delayed three times.
First, it was delayed from Dec. 29 to Jan. 26 because a public notice was never filed with the city clerk’s office, according to meeting minutes.
The Jan. 26 date was delayed to Feb. 2 after a large winter storm swept through the Valley. The latest delay was requested by the developer’s attorney due to a travel conflict, according to planning & zoning chairman Jared Heon.
According to documents submitted by the developer, the proposal would bring in $150,000 to $200,000 of new tax revenue each year. Haston said his proposal is the most productive and least intrusive use to breathe new life into a property that has sat empty for 12 years.
During a previous public hearing, held Dec. 8, eleven speakers, brought up concerns regarding neighborhood impact, parking, and whether the developer could deliver on promises.Other potential uses for the site have been discussed in the past, but the housing proposal is the first one to be formally submitted in years. A resident raised the idea of a committee to discuss the property’s future in 2021.