Mystic - The attorney who represents a group of residents from the StoneRidge retirement community who oppose David Lattizori's proposed development of the Perkins Farm property has criticized the head of the Stonington Economic Development Commission for drafting a document in which the commission supports the project.

The attorney, Mark Branse, said commission Chairman Blunt White properly recused himself from voting to support the project but he should not have written the position paper that the commission then submitted to the town and The Day.

That's because White is the vice president for commercial lending at People's United Bank, the same bank that is looking to finance Lattizori's development of the 70-acre site off Jerry Browne Road.

"While there is nothing wrong with (the bank financing the project), - in light of Mr. White's disqualification - it is extremely improper for him to then turn around, draft a statement for the commission of which he is the chairman, and ask his fellow commission members to endorse a statement that he wrote as their own," Branse said.

He added that he has also obtained e-mails White wrote over the summer in the support of the project and which he signed in his capacity as commission chairman or bank vice president.

Branse said that White's involvement in the support for the project makes it difficult for commission members to criticize it.

While he acknowledged writing the commission's position paper, White said Tuesday that Branse's criticism was a non-issue because commission members voted to approve the document on their own and he again abstained from voting as he had in August. The commission's opinion is only an advisory one.

The dispute comes as the Planning and Zoning Commission prepares to hold a Dec. 2 public hearing on Lattizori's latest plan for the property. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Mystic Middle School.

Lattizori is seeing to amend the town's zoning regulations by creating a Highway Transition Design District so he can build a mix of mix of retail shops, offices, townhouses and a hotel on the site.

One change from the plan Lattizori withdrew in August because of a technical issue calls for the reduction in the maximum number of one- and two-bedroom town homes that would be allowed from 100 to 48. The proposal also requires at least 50 percent of a site to remain as open space.

It is estimated the project would generate about $500,000 a year in net additional tax revenue for the town, something the Economic Development Commission says is needed to offset increasing taxes for residents. It further states that if the land is used to build single-family homes, as it is currently zoned for, the additional costs to the town such as educating the students who live there, would not only wipe out the new tax revenue from the homes but end up costing the town an additional $500,000.

"EDC believes Lattizori's concept plan is a modest scale shopping destination that would complement existing tourism businesses and bring in new customers for Mystic Seaport, the Aquarium and existing retail establishments," states the commission's position paper.

But Branse, who has submitted a lengthy critique of the proposal to the PZC, has argued that the impact of the new development would not be as great as the commission claims because the new shops would push out existing ones. He also has pointed out that the Plan of Conservation and Development calls for a transition zone of offices, retirement housing, and age-restricted housing west of Pequotsepos Road, not retail shops and a hotel.

j.wojtas@theday.com