Norwich — A zoning variance public hearing on the new proposed 120-unit housing project on the grounds of the former Peachtree Apartments at 2 Westledge Drive was postponed to next Tuesday at the request of the developer.

With only four of the five regular members in attendance, the Zoning Board of Appeals developer Darwin Gebbie asked to postpone the public hearings and reviews to the special meeting planned for 7 p.m. July 17. By state law, projects require four votes to approve an application, so Tuesday’s vote would have to have been unanimous.

Several residents of the neighborhood attended Tuesday’s meeting and were disappointed in the postponement.

“It’s very unfair,” Elizabeth Street resident Claire Silva said. “We all came out and now you’re telling us to go home.”

Silva and other residents talked with Gebbie and project attorney Mark Block outside the meeting room. The developer offered to meet with neighbors to explain the proposed project.

Silva said she had problems with the previous Peachtree Apartments residents cutting through her yard and garden. She told Gebbie “a seven-foot chain-link fence” would please her.

The former Peachtree complex consisted of two long buildings positioned close together resembling a set of brackets. The complex burned to the ground in a fast-moving fire April 26, 2008. There were no injuries.

The new proposed project consists of four buildings arranged in a quad. The developers need ZBA approval of a zoning variance for the total number of units before seeking site development plan approval from the Commission on the City Plan.

c.bessette@theday.com