Stonington ―The Architectural Design Review Board voted Monday to conditionally approve a redesign of a controversial affordable housing project on the former Campbell Grain site in downtown Pawcatuck.

The conditional approval assumes that the developer, WinnCompanies of Boston, will make changes to the west-facing rear of the building and the lobby area to make them more visually appealing, and that Winn will return to the board for final approval once those changes have been made.

Board member Leslie Driscoll, the sole dissenting vote in the 4-1 approval, described the western façade as bland and uninteresting, and the entire project as “an eye sore.”

“The building is going to be seen from all sides, so consideration needs to made to the western façade,” member Breck Perkins said, adding, “it can’t be an afterthought.”

Chair Michael McKinley told Winn representatives, “I think you need something to anchor the building and read as a front entry, and I don’t think you have that yet.”

Much of the discussion prior to the vote centered around fire safety, parking, storm water run-off and other engineering issues, which are not part of the review board’s purview,, as pointed out by McKinley in board discussions after Winn representatives and residents left the meeting.

WinnCompanies is currently going through the permitting process a second time after redesigning its original approval for an 82-unit, affordable housing development on Coggswell Street site as a 55+ age restricted community with 70 units.

Residents opposed the original plan citing concerns about traffic and parking, restricted access on the narrow street and its location next to the railroad tracks.

Opponents also said the building was too large, unattractive, and questioned why more affluent areas of town, such as Mystic and the borough, do not host any affordable housing.

The new proposal reduced the square footage of the building by 25%, to 90,000 square feet, addressed concerns about the building’s appearance, increased the original 92 proposed parking spaces to 93, eliminated all three-bedroom units, and reserved a minimum of 50 units for Stonington residents.

Additionally, the new plan reduces the number of units from 82 to 70, 90% of which will be affordable housing, which is housing that is affordable to people who earn 80% or less of the area median income.

A single individual earning 80% of the area’s median income, $63,000 per year, would pay $1,500 per month in rent.

The conditional approval was described as a “win-win situation,” by McKinley, because Winn will be able to pursue Planning and Zoning approval with the conditional approval in hand instead of a rejection.

Planning and Zoning cannot deny an affordable housing project based on an architectural design review board decision, as the board’s decision is not binding.

The redesigned project is scheduled to be presented to the Board of Police Commissioners in December for approval and be the subject of a public hearing at the Dec. 20 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.