New London — A proposed change to the city’s zoning regulations would allow property owners in the Coit Street Historic District to subdivide a building into as many as four apartments, construct a garage or operate a business out of a residence if they first complete a historic restoration of the property.

The application to create a historic area overlay district and apply it to the Coit Street area was submitted in February by local developer Tony Silvestri and will be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday night.

“An overlay zone is an additional layer of regulations for a specific area that is laid over the underlying zoning regulations,” according to the CT Trust for Historic Preservation. “The base zoning regulations continue to be administered, but the overlay adds another level of regulations to be considered.”

Silvestri’s proposal would allow “increases in density” — or simply more units per acre of lot area — if a property owner completes a building restoration project that follows the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s standards for rehabilitation, according to a memo drafted by City Planner Harry Smith.

It would also allow homeowners to build detached garages, develop off-street parking, construct a playground or establish a garden, all of which would be subject to a design review process.

Through his City Flats program, Silvestri purchases Coit Street area homes in poor condition and completely renovates them to be sold as individual, single-floor condominiums.

Because the Coit Street Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, homeowners within the area are already eligible for state and federal tax credits meant to encourage historic preservation. By overlaying additional zoning over the area, Silvestri said, the city regulations would become more accommodating to such preservation projects.

“What this will enable not only us to do but anybody who owns a building within this area to do, if they chose, is to use the historic tax credits and renovate their homes,” he said. “They also would be eligible for some other zoning enhancements and those enhancements are things like being able to have off-street parking, having garages, and utilizing the building the way it physically can be utilized.”

But if homeowners do not want to make any changes to their property, they will not have to. Silvestri’s proposed zoning regulation amendment would not require any action from people who own property or live within the overlay district.

“If they want to totally ignore this, it changes nothing. But the good news is that this gives the financial ability for anybody in the neighborhood to take advantage of these zoning enhancements, which in turn would increase their property values,” Silvestri said. “The key part of this is that it is not rezoning, but it is giving the opportunity to jump on this bandwagon if you so choose, or ignore it if you choose.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission will consider the application for a zoning regulation amendment at its meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung