FILE PHOTO
DERBY — Members of the city’s planning and zoning commission want more information about parking connected to a plan to build 105 market-rate apartments on Main Street.
Shelton developer Joe Salemme’s Trolley Pointe project was approved for 70 apartments back in January 2021. He submitted revised plans in November for a larger project because it makes more sense financially, he said.
The new proposal calls for 62 studio apartments, 39, 1‑bedroom units and four, 2‑bedroom units, and brings the proposed four-story building to six-stories to be built at the former Lifetouch property on Main Street next to the Route 8 south on-ramp.
The commission held a public hearing Dec. 21 to discuss the new proposal and kept the public hearing open so the developer’s consultants could submit more detailed parking data. The next Derby Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 18.
The project as presented provides 94 spaces instead of the 117 required by Derby.
"Since I’ve been on this board for 22 years we’ve done nothing but take buildings down."
Ted Estwan, Derby P&Z Chairman
However, this project is being considered as a planned development district, which could give the commission leeway with the parking rules.
In general, a “planned development district” gives an applicant and a commission room flexibility with existing zoning rules. A 2006 state legislative report described PDDs as “alternatives to traditional zoning that give municipalities and developers greater flexibility by emphasizing general goals instead of strict regulatory requirements.”
Salemme expects several of the tenants won’t have cars and could rely on the Derby train station, which is within walking distance.
Derby’s train station is part of the Waterbury line, an under-used train line that the state and federal government is spending millions on to improve in order to attract more riders.
“We feel there’s going to be a small percentage of unit owners who will not have any vehicles at all with the rail improvements,” Salemme said during the Dec. 21 meeting. “With the rail improvements, and the redevelopment of Route 34 (a long-planned state widening project), we believe this is going to be the start of very attractive redevelopment to the south side of Derby.”
The state Department of Transportation opened bids for the Main Street/Route 34 widening project on Nov. 3, 2021. The review process takes 60 days, which means a contract for the project could be awarded very soon.
Members of the planning and zoning commission requested solid data regarding people who live in similar areas and use public transportation.
Salemme said he may be able to purchase an additional 12 spaces on state-owned land on Main Street, and also secure several more, if needed, on city-owned land nearby on Caroline Street.
Commission Chairman Ted Estwan pointed out Derby needs something on the south side of Main Street, the city’s redevelopment zone along the Housatonic River.
“We have no businesses, no people and no parking problem downtown,” Estwan said. “I’m tired of seeing nothing. I want a parking problem because that would mean we’re flourishing. Since I’ve been on this board for 22 years we’ve done nothing but take buildings down. I want to put a shovel in the ground. We have a local developer that wants to build something here. It might have minor parking issues and it might not have a retail component, but we can work through that and move forward. This (Lifetouch) property has come before the commission twice before with a Cumberland farms, and we said ‘no’ twice. (Salemme) is looking to go up another floor to make it economically feasible. We’ve got to start somewhere downtown.”
