Neighbors Voice Opposition To Shelton Condo Plans

photo:ethan fryMore than 100 people jammed the auditorium at Shelton City Hall Wednesday (March 23) for a public hearing on a plan to put 18 condominiums on a 4‑acre property on Long Hill Avenue.

Not a single resident who spoke to the commission endorsed the project, but two letters submitted to the city supported it.

The hearing is scheduled to continue April 12.

Background

The property at 405 Long Hill Ave. is owned by Jack and Josephine Gaida. They bought it in April 2002 for $130,000, according to city property records online. A single-family house currently sits there.

The property was the subject of a years-long legal battle between the city’s planning and zoning commission and the Gaidas.

At the time of the Gaidas’ purchase, most of the lollipop-shaped property between Long Hill Avenue and Route 8 was in an industrial zone. But a narrow strip fronting Long Hill Avenue was zoned as residential.

Article continues after picture of the property from the city’s online property records system.

(NOTE: The shaded portion of the picture is the 2‑acre property originally bought by the Gaidas in 2002. Since then, they acquired excess right of way next to Route 8 from the state to double the size of the property to about 4 acres, according to their lawyer.)

Eight months after the Gaidas bought the land, the city served them with a cease and desist order prohibiting any work on the site. About the same time, the planning and zoning commission changed the zoning of the whole property to residential.

The Gaidas appealed the decision in court, accusing the city of illegal spot zoning.” A Superior Court judge sided with the city. But the state’s Appellate Court reversed that decision, concluding that the zone change was improper because there wasn’t enough evidence to support the city’s actions.

The city tried to appeal that ruling, but the state’s Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Plans

The Gaidas want to put 18 two-bedroom condominiums on the property in three buildings of six units each. The development would be called Brookview Heights.”

Article continues after site plan and architectural rendering.

405 Long Hill Ave. Site Plan

405 Long Hill Ave. Architectural Rendering

They are seeking a zone change from the planning and zoning commission to create a Planned Development District” for the development.

Each of the 18 units would have two parking spaces.

The price tag for the units would be in the neighborhood of $300,000, Dominick Thomas, the Gaidas’ lawyer, told the commission March 23.

Two letters were submitted to the commission supporting the project from Long Hill Avenue residents who said a residential development on the property would be preferable to an industrial use.

Opposition

The application faced a litany of complaints and criticism at the March 23 public hearing, beginning with questions raised by the city’s engineer, Robert Kulacz.

Kulacz wrote a March 22 letter to the planning and zoning commission after reviewing the plans. He noted the planned development would only have one driveway — at a grade of 8 percent. He also noted potential turning conflicts” with vehicles exiting the property at the same time as Sylvan Drive across Long Hill Avenue.

I do not endorse this application since the size and grade of the parcel does not support a project of this density, and the negative impact to the Long Hill Avenue traffic,” Kulacz wrote.

Residents who spoke about the project shared Kulacz’s concerns.

Regis Dognin lives at the intersection of Long Hill Avenue and Constitution Boulevard South.

photo:ethan fryA city employee, Dognin said a neighborhood petition in opposition to the project had gathered 300 signatures and was still growing.

He noted the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development frowns on putting planned development districts in residential areas. Dognin also raised concerns about increased traffic on Long Hill Avenue, as well what he said was a substandard access and egress” at the site.

This is a bomb waiting to go off,” Dognin said, asking commissioners to envision what would happen if there was a fire there during a snowstorm. This has the making of a health and safety nightmare.”

Sharon Court resident Fred Carlson said he’s lived at his current home for 36 years and the traffic in the area is already almost intolerable” at times — without even taking into account another residential development currently under construction off Long Hill Cross Road.

We have not felt the impact of that (development) yet,” Carlson said as neighbors applauded.

Michael Sigrist, a Sylvan Drive resident, said he’s lived in Shelton since 1988 and said development is starting to make the city look like the Post Road in Milford.

The Third Ward’s two representatives on the Board of Aldermen — Lynne Farrell and Aldermanic President John Anglace — also spoke out against the proposal.

Anglace told the commission he was dismayed” that no report had been filed with the application on possible impact to wetlands on the site.

Why can’t the owner just plan to build single-family homes there, he wondered.

Obviously, the only reason for this application is pure profit,” Anglace said as neighbors applauded.

Sam Romano, who lives on Kneen Street, told commissioners he is concerned that six of the planned units were too close to wetlands on the property.

Stephanie Kampler, a Long Hill Avenue resident who started an online petition against the project, said traffic is already bad in the area. Echoing comments from other neighbors, she also said that fill had been dumped on the property for years, altering the course of a brook running through it.

Jason Perillo, a lawmaker who represents Shelton in the state’s House of Representatives and a former member of the planning and zoning commission, said he was concerned about increasing development density in the area, pointing out that nearby Sylvan Drive has a total of 18 residences, the same number as the proposal.

Perillo said after the meeting that the proposal is simply not right for the neighborhood and the residents came out tonight and proved that.”

James Walsh, a Broc Terrace resident, said the area acts as a buffer” between the dense nearby development of Bridgeport Avenue.

I bought in Shelton because I lived in Stratford and Bridgeport. I came up here to raise my family in an R‑1 zone,” he said, urging the commission to keep it that way.

Alan Tyma, a local lawyer representing a neighboring property owner, questioned whether the commission even had jurisdiction to decide on the application.

Article continues after photo.

photo:ethan fry

Since the appeals court ruled the commission’s 2003 zone change was improper, that means the property is still zoned industrial, even though the city’s zoning maps say it’s residential.

It seems to me that you can’t put the cart before the horse. The first thing you need to do is decide if you want it to be residential,” Tyma said.

Tyma also wondered why the plans hadn’t been reviewed by the Inland Wetlands Commission.

I think it’s extremely important that there be a decision-making by all the other boards,” he said.

Applicants’ Lawyer Responds

Thomas, the Gaidas’ lawyer, disputed Tyma’s conclusions.

It’s very simple, there’s no jurisdictional issue,” he said.

He said he will address more clearly” concerns raised about wetlands on the property when the public hearing continues April 12.

Thomas said that he’ll also work on getting a traffic report done for the proposal.

And he told the Aldermen in attendance that if traffic is as bad in the area as their constituents said it is, then they should do something about it.

Aldermen Farrell and Aldermen Anglace should take note of this: there is a lot of traffic in Shelton,” Thomas said. There’s a lot of traffic that other towns would love to have, because it’s generated by businesses in Shelton. If Long Hill Avenue is that deficient — and it’s been publicly stated that it’s that deficient — then I think the city needs to take note of that and put money into improving it.”

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