East Lyme ― The businessman behind a stalled plan for a 454-unit senior living complex on Dodge Pond has a date with the Zoning Commission to try to reconcile any differences before an official application is filed.

New York-based architect Eric J. Pelletier of Pelletier-Niantic LLC this week secured a one-year extension of the approval that granted him enough sewage treatment capacity to serve 160 condominiums, 144 apartments and a 150-bed assisted living section.

Next up is an April 18 pre-application workshop with the Zoning Commission, according to the lawyer representing Pelletier. Attorney William R. Sweeney said the workshop is a way for the developer and commission members to share information and exchange ideas.

“We want to talk with them, and want to hear from everybody on all sides,” Sweeney said.

The Niantic Village senior housing proposal covers 37 acres currently owned by the Trakas family from Pennsylvania Avenue to Dodge Pond, with the sale to Pelletier-Niantic pending project approval.

The scale of the proposal has raised questions and concerns in a town where overdevelopment is a main talking point.

“My client wants the input of the community before he makes any formal submission,” Sweeney said.

The first applications will be for a zone change and any amendments to zoning regulations necessary to facilitate the project, according to the attorney. He said the purpose of the workshop is to talk about the options.

The workshop will be held during the commission’s regularly scheduled meeting. Sweeney described it as an opportunity for a “frank and informal” conversation between the commission and the applicant.

“Particularly if they have some really good ideas or if there’s issues they want us to address, we can capture those before a submission and work those into our proposal,” he said.

If the zone change goes through this spring, the project itself will need authorization from the Inland Wetland Agency before coming back to the Zoning Commission for approval later this year.

Town Utilities Engineer Ben North said the Water and Sewer Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend the 75,000-per-day sewer allocation for the project approved in March 2023. Regulations governing the public sewer system require an extension if all land use approvals are not obtained within a year.

Project details from last year show the developer will pay for the extension of the sewer main from Main Street to the site on Pennsylvania Avenue, allowing new customers along the route to tie into the system.

North said the extension process is a way to check in to make sure the project is still on track.

“They’re still out there; they’re still looking to move forward,” North said. “It just hasn’t moved forward as quickly as they’d hoped.”

e.regan@theday.com