Stonington — A Hanover developer has submitted an application to build a 40-unit housing complex, in which 12 of the units will be affordable under state law, on a 25-acre site at 126 South Broad St. in Pawcatuck.

The Planning and Zoning Commission has slated a public hearing on the application by AJ Holdings LLC for 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Mystic Middle School.

The project, called “Stonington Village,” would contain 20 duplexes, including one in an existing home on the site. Another lot would house a maintenance building and 18 acres of wetlands would serve as open space. Plans also call for construction of a 1,000-foot road to serve the homes.

The project is the latest affordable-housing project along South Broad Street, along with the recently opened Spruce Meadow project and the adjacent Spruce Ridge project, which is under construction. Both contain 43 units. The town’s Economic Development Commission has said it will make creation of new multifamily and affordable housing a priority over the next year.

Affordable housing is defined as the cost of a unit that would not exceed 30 percent of the monthly net household income for families that earn below 80 percent of the area median income. It is estimated that a household needs to earn almost $21 an hour to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in town.

Because the town has less than 10 percent of its housing stock dedicated as affordable — it is 6 percent — it is subject to a state law that requires it to prove a proposed affordable-housing plan would impact the town’s health and safety in order to reject the application. Simply not being in compliance with zoning regulations is not enough to reject such a plan.

j.wojtas@theday.com