A conceptual drawing of what the development on Factory Street in Derby could look like.
DERBY — A development company hoping to build on the south side of Main Street withdrew applications from the city’s planning and zoning commission Tuesday — but they’ll be back.
Derby Downtown LLC was expected to submit paperwork for a project with 192 one-bedroom apartments, 17 two-bedroom apartments, nine studio apartments and retail space at 23 Factory St. in the city’s downtown redevelopment zone on the south side of Main Street.
However, the company and the city discovered at the last minute that the property could not apply under Derby’s “planned development district” (PDD) as the company hoped because the district requires lot sizes of at least five acres. Derby Downtown, LLC owns under three acres (Barretta Gardens & Landscape).
The snafu was surprising, because the developer’s consultants and the city’s land-use consultants crafted the “planned development district” together.
The city’s planning and zoning commission adopted the district last year, with the Derby Downtown, LLC project in mind.
The five-acre rule was thought to come out of the fact that when the PDD was first discussed, Derby Downtown LLC was talking about buying the former Lifetouch property next door on Main Street. But that deal never came to fruition, so those 1.9 acres are not part of the Derby Downtown, LLC mixed-use project.
To deal with the problem, the planning and zoning commission will be submitting an application to itself next month to tweak the city’s zoning language.
Derby Downtown LLC is the first developer since at least 2009 to propose a project in the Derby redevelopment zone while actually owning property in the redevelopment zone.
After Tuesday’s meeting two representatives of Derby Downtown, LLC told The Valley Indy the company is still committed to getting the project in Derby off the ground. They said waiting a month or two has no impact on their timeline. They credited the city for open communication.
“The city has been very helpful in getting us here. It’s a shame we have a hiccup in the middle of it, but we are committed to this project. We were prepared tonight to bring forward our entire proposal. We’re not going anywhere,” said Rob Rowlson, the former West Hartford economic development director who is consulting with Derby Downtown LLC. “We will bring it forward probably next month, at this point.”
Election Day is Nov. 5. Having the development applications in place and under review could have been a feather in the cap for Mayor Rich Dziekan, who is running for a second term.
But Andrew Baklik, the mayor’s chief of staff who was in attendance at Tuesday night’s meeting, said politics plays a secondary role.
“The important thing is that it happens, and that it happens right,” Baklik said. “We don’t want to jam it in and do it wrong.”
