Neighbors of the former LoPresti School in Seymour cast a skeptical eye Tuesday on a plan to convert the building into apartments.
The town’s Board of Selectmen held a public hearing on whether the town should sell the 52,425-square-foot building on Maple Street to the Primrose Companies of Bridgeport for $335,000.
The developer is John Guedes, known locally for his redevelopment work along Canal Street in downtown Shelton. His company has also converted several old school buildings into apartments.
Residents wanted specific information on the apartment plan and how it would affect the neighborhood.
Many of the questions were a bit technical, such as where the parking would go on the property and how the project would connect to utilities.
However, since the company does not own the property, there are no formal development plans on file with the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission. That left many unanswered questions Tuesday, and no one from Guedes’ company was at the public hearing.
Most concerns were in four general areas:
1. That the apartments would be used for low-income housing, which the residents opposed, and that the apartments would fall into disrepair.
2. That there isn’t enough parking, and that a new parking lot would require the removal of too many trees and disrupt the neighborhood.
3. The number of apartments — 30 — is too much for an already densely-populated neighborhood.
4. The impact on the town’s school budget if children move into the apartments. A resident pointed out that voters in Seymour already has trouble passing school budgets.
In an interview with the Valley Indy earlier this month, Guedes said he wants to build market-rate — not low-income — housing on the site.
Guedes intends to invest roughly $4 million in the property to convert the building into one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rent in the two-bedroom apartments would probably be about $1,200 a month, Guedes said.
It against federal law to deny housing simply because the tenants are “low income.”
Maple Street resident Kelly Reilly said it’s already a challenge to back out of her driveway. Adding 30 apartments and who knows how many cars won’t make it any easier, she said.
Al Yagovane told the Selectmen the property should be used for local small businesses. He had a few ideas he didn’t want to share with the public, but scheduled a chat with First Selectman Kurt Miller for Wednesday morning.
Agatha Parlak said Seymour should stop thinking about selling the property and simply tear down the building instead.
“I say knock it down and turn it into a park for the kids to play in,” Parlak said, noting that families from the Maple Street area have to travel across Route 67 to get in any playtime.
Other residents said the town should consider subsidized senior housing at the site, but Miller said the building was offered to the town’s housing authority, and the agency could not afford it.
The town is offering the developer incentives, First Selectman Kurt Miller said during the meeting.
The town, as part of the deal that is being considered, would keep the assessment of the property at $1 million for five years as the developer makes improvements at the property.
Miller indicated the town is hoping to sell the building because it is old and costing taxpayers money to maintain.
Listen to the audio below to hear some of Miller’s remarks about problems the town is running into with the old school:
The building was a public school until 2012, when it was consolidated with the Chatfield School to create the Chatfield-LoPresti School.
Voters approved the consolidation in 2008.
Seymour Selectmen will take the public comments into consideration. A town meeting on the sale is scheduled for June 17.
The “projected” closing date for the sale is in December. Town officials repeatedly said the developer is looking for 30 market-rate apartments (the Valley Indy was told 40 earlier this month, apparently a mistake, FYI).
