Politics & Government

Fort Trumbull Townhouse Permits Approved

New London Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously agrees to project proposed by River Bank Construction

By a unanimous vote of its seven members, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the construction of 99 townhouse units and one commercial building at Fort Trumbull.

The approval followed a meeting in which members of the commission scrutinized points related to everything from parking to landscaping. Municipal staff must still approve a phasing plan after the commission learned that the project will not be built out all at once.

Robert Stillman, who submitted the plan for River Bank Construction of Westport, said he was pleased with the approval.

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“We started two years ago with the negotiation of the process,” he said.

Former Mayor Martin Olsen said he had worked with the company during that process and said approval would be a “catalyst for development” at Fort Trumbull.

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“We’ve got good local people supporting this project, and I think that’s important that we have people we trust working alongside the Stillmans,” said Olsen.

City Engineer Harry Smith said the permits were for the development itself as well as matter such as the coastal site plan review. Smith said River Bank Construction still needs to get a final approval from the , which owns the land where the construction will take place.

Stillman said the company will continue with the design process, and that no date has been set for a groundbreaking.

The proposal

River Bank Construction seeks to put the residential units into about 70 buildings on four parcels of land formerly occupied by buildings of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. It is the same land where a 2006 application for 66 apartments, 14 townhouses, and 24 extended hotel suites was approved.

“This project enhances the positives from that application and expands on them to achieve greater consistency with the Plan of Conservation and Development, the MDP [Municipal Development Plan], and recommendations of the ,” the application states.

The development would also include a community clubhouse with a reading room, kitchen, bath facilities, and office space. The townhouses themselves would emulate the Greek Revival architecture of Starr Street as well as Italianate and carriage house styles, with one to three bedroom units of between 1,480 and 1,700 square feet.

Attorney Matthew Greene, representing the NLDC, said the “Village on the Thames” development can be considered the residential portion of a mixed-use development required for the Fort Trumbull zone. He said the site already abuts the , , , and the . The Yale Urban Design Workshop recommended a number of other commercial sites for the area as well, including a hotel and cultural site.

“The village concept is very interesting, and I think very exciting,” said Greene. “When you look at the buildings around it, I think you lose that feeling of being an office complex because of the design of the project.”

Concerns

In August, the City Council unanimously voted to for the project. The company requested the abatement, which exempts a portion of taxes on the rental and sale units on a diminishing scale over seven years. It said the abatement was needed to stay competitive in keeping the townhouses as initial rental units, with a gradual transition to owner-occupied homes.

The proposal earned some criticism from residents and , and there was an to overturn the decision. Mayor Daryl Finizio said during campaign debates that he felt the project’s rental phase and abatement request , suggesting that NLDC was struggling to show progress at the peninsula after several years without development at Fort Trumbull.

Chairman Mark Christiansen said prior to a public comment section of the meeting that the abatement was not a suitable topic of discussion for the permit approval process.

“It is not something we can deal with,” said Christiansen. “That is a council matter and not ours.”

Resident Margot Pordes said she was concerned about the proportion of vacant rental property in the city and questioned whether a residential development would be a good investment for Fort Trumbull.

“It seems that any land we’ve got that can go to commercial use should do so,” she said.

Resident Doug Schwartz said adding excess housing to the city would decrease property values. He also contended that NLDC’s ownership of the land is illegal per state statute, saying the city should be the owner.

“What you’re essentially creating here is an adverse possession situation,” said Schwartz. “This is opening up a potential hornets’ nest of litigation.”

Greene said NLDC is the owner of record, and that any legal issue would not be within the purview of the commission. Law Director Jeffrey Londregan agreed.

“I don’t think these issues are anything that are going to hinder this application,” Londregan said.


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