(Left to right, back row) Kevin Stanis, Brian Sirowich (Front row, left to right) Joe Niezelski, Rob VanEgghen, Maryann Robinson, and Richard Peck, members of the Seymour P&Z.
SEYMOUR – The town’s planning and zoning commission has from now until May to decide whether to change the zoning on three Pearl Street properties from residential to multi-family.
If the commissioners say yes, a developer could propose the construction of about 108 apartments on the land.
The commission held its final public hearing on the zone change on March 14. The majority of the speakers asked the commissioners to vote no.
They said 100 apartments – with accompanying motor vehicles – is too much development for an already densely-populated neighborhood where many houses sit on less than half an acre.
“I’m all for housing. I’m all for making sure people who are middle class can live in this great community. However, this project doesn’t fit the neighborhood it’s being proposed for,” said neighbor Scott Jarzombek of Maple Street. “The infrastructure, the traffic enforcement, is not in place for the amount of vehicles that are going to be coming through this road. This will impact the quality of life for all the constituents that you represent.”
Dominick Thomas, the lawyer advocating for the zone change, said apartments are better for the area than single-family houses, which are currently permitted.
The Seymour Town Planner said the zone change is in line with the Seymour Plan of Conservation and Development. It would provide less expensive housing options and put people within walking distance of Seymour’s downtown business district, he said.
The Zone Change Request
Second Street Construction, LLC is the owner of the three residential properties on Pearl Street. Matthew Zaloumis, a developer from Oxford, is listed on state records as the LLC’s principal.
The three properties are next to each other and take up 14.6 acres of land. The land is near a deli, a Thai restaurant, several single-family and multi-family homes, a barber shop, and an apartment complex at the former LoPresti School.
According to town land records, the 28 Pearl St. address currently houses the Roberta King Estate, a circa-1900 brick mansion previously owned by the late Roberta King, a former Seymour Selectwoman and philanthropist.
The property at 18 Pearl St. houses a Cape-style home built in 1745 and the property at 32 Pearl St. is vacant land.
Second Street Construction purchased the three properties for $1.3 million in 2018.
While a formal site plan has not been submitted to the town – that won’t happen unless the commission OKs the zone change first – Thomas submitted a conceptual site plan to the town.
It shows three, two-and-a-half story apartment buildings on the property, each housing 36 apartments. The buildings would be about 12,000 square-feet each. There would be roughly 200 parking spaces (roughly 70 or so per building), according to plans.
Thomas said the commission could limit the number of bedrooms in the apartments to minimize the impact on Seymour schools. Thomas also said the land’s current zoning could allow for about 25 single-family houses on the land.
Three apartment houses would create less construction disturbance to the land than houses, and allow for more of the land to be kept as open space, Thomas said.
Reaction
About 15 people attended the March 14 public hearing on the zone change. One person spoke in favor of the change, while about six people spoke against it.
Resident Jane Cormack said rezoning the property to allow multi-family is good for Seymour.
“It would allow apartments and condominiums which are more affordable and will allow our young people and older residents looking to downsize, and small families, to stay in Seymour,” Cormack said.
Most speakers said the zoning on the property should be left alone.
They said granting the zone change would eventually lead to more traffic and burden town services.
“I have to disagree with attorney Thomas, I don’t believe it’s an appropriate place for 108 apartments,” said West Street resident Gayle Warhola.
Warhola presented the commission with a petition containing 47 signatures of residents opposed to the zone change.
Gina Venezia, of Maple Street, said the potential development is too large.
“This will overburden the schools, produce less revenue for local government, create traffic congestion, increase crime and lower the value of single-family homes in the area,” she said.
“The negative impact on me personally: it will create a nuisance by having a parking lot of 79 spaces in our backyard. This will interfere with our rights to use and enjoy our property. We will not feel safe. I suffer every day with anxiety due to the outcome of this proposal,” she said.
This is the second time the same zone change request has come before the commission. The commission, last August, denied the zone change in a 2 – 1 vote, citing traffic concerns and the location.
Thomas appealed the decision in Milford Superior Court, where it is pending.
