NS affordable housing plan to get hearing

North Stonington - For the past two years, town officials and residents have debated how to increase affordable housing in town while preserving the town's rural character.

That debate will be renewed Thursday, as the Planning and Zoning Commission holds a public hearing on plans for an 84-unit housing development on Route 2 that includes 56 apartments designated as affordable housing. The hearing is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, but would be moved to the North Stonington Elementary School multipurpose room if a larger room is needed.

The Meadowcourt development, proposed by V&M Construction, Inc. of Westerly, calls for 56 deed-restricted one-bedroom affordable apartments, 14 two-bedroom market rate apartments and another 14 second-story studio units above the two-bedroom apartments. The complex would also include a 6,000-square-foot community center that would have space for a farmers' market and convenience grocery store.

The 7.3-acre project would fall under the state law that governs affordable housing in towns where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is deemed affordable. North Stonington has less than 1 percent.

According to the law, the town has limited review authority over affordable housing projects, said Juliet Leeming, North Stonington senior planner and zoning enforcement officer.

But she called the V&M proposal "a friendly 8-30g," referring to the number of the state statute.

Leeming said the developers have worked with town officials during workshops and in presenting preliminary plans, including a model of the proposed project, to try to alleviate concerns.

The 14 housing buildings would be arranged around a central square meadow or green. The community center building would be in front of the green and would face Route 2. Leeming said the original proposal called for the apartments to face Route 2 but the commission asked that they be arranged around the green.

"It complies with a lot of our regulations, except the density," Leeming said of the project.

V&M has applied for a zone change to place the property in an affordable housing development overlay zone and also seeks accompanying zoning text amendments to govern the zone. The commission must vote on the project based on health and safety issues, Leeming said.

North Stonington faced a similar proposal in late 2007 with the controversial 408-unit Garden Court affordable housing development on Boom Bridge Road. The commission rejected that plan and the developers appealed the decision in superior court. The economic recession intervened, and the plans and lawsuits were withdrawn.

But the controversy got town officials thinking about affordable housing and they formed the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. The committee has submitted a report outlining ways the town can improve its affordable housing stock.

Marilyn Mackay, the committee secretary, issued a press release last week that personally endorsed the Meadowcourt project. Mackay said the project makes sense for the town in that it provides a mixture of affordable and market rate units and a commercial component that could boost the town's agricultural base.

Mackay is a strong supporter of creating a year-round farmers' market that could house freezers and coolers to allow the sale of dairy products and even fish from the Stonington docks.

Mackay called the Meadowcourt project unusual in that it calls for 66 percent affordable housing rather than the state guideline of 15 percent.

"If qualified affordable housing stock does not soon become a town reality, we will see the likes of another 400+ apartment complex forced upon our town," Mackay said. "Except for health or safety reasons, we cannot prevent it."

But First Selectman Nicholas Mullane, said he is worried about the development density, traffic and storm water runoff. He said the town should require the developers to post a performance bond on the proposed on-site septic system to protect against possible failure in the future.

"I'm concerned about the project," Mullane said. "The density is significant, and there's an awful lot on eight acres of land."