GREENWICH — The controversial plan to erect a two-building, 355-unit apartment complex with underground parking off West Putnam Avenue faced a skeptical Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday night.
No decisions were made after a hearing that ended after midnight Wednesday morning. Project developers spoke for hours before the commission and about 40 neighbors of the area, laying the groundwork for a site plan and special permit request for 345 West Putnam Ave. and a zoning change to allow a project that large to be built.
The current design includes 27 studio apartments, 164 one-bedroom apartments, 144 two-bedroom apartments and 23 three-bedroom apartments to be built on land that for the past 90 years has housed the Post Road Iron Works.
Commission member Margarita Alban said she felt the size of the complex would not be in keeping with neighborhood character.
“It’s not why people move to Connecticut,” said. Alban. “You might as well stay in a major metropolitan area for this.”
Commission Chairman Richard Maitland said the project was unlike any other housing in town; plans call for the apartment complex to be 397,485 square feet and have parking for 559 vehicles.
In outlining the plan, Ted Hart, an engineer and part of the development team, repeatedly used the word “urban” in describing the environment for the new apartments, something commission member Andy Fox took exception to.
“Do we have to tell you four times that we’re not urban?” Fox asked the project representatives. “It’s not a joke.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Developer sues city over stalled New London project
New London — A company that in 2013 appeared poised to break ground on a 104-unit residential development at Fort Trumbull is suing the city and its development arm, the Renaissance City Development Association, over a breach of contract.
Westport-based River Bank Construction LLC, run by father and son team of Irwin and Robert Stillman, is attempting to recoup more than $2 million it claims was spent in development of plans, local permits and approvals for their Village on the Green project.
The suit additionally asks for a court to consider punitive damages and legal fees, among other costs.
Attorneys for both the city and RCDA said the suit was without merit but declined to discuss any details of the complaint while litigation was pending.
River Bank had a signed a development agreement with RCDA when, in 2013, the RCDA refused to turn over the four parcels of land designated for the development, about 6.5 acres, because of a dispute about how the $20 million project would be financed.
The Stillmans claim they were prepared to self-finance the project but the RCDA had demanded “cash performance bonds, letters of credit or some forms of personal guaranty.”
Riverbank claims in the suit that these were “added terms and conditions not contained in the Development Agreement.”
Mediation at the time ended on a sour note.
The RCDA maintained the Stillmans were in default of the contract. Riverbank contends RCDA breached the contract. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT found lagging in highway investment
Connecticut spends less than 20 cents of each dollar it collects in highway user fees to build and maintain its highways, a leading state trucking lobby says.
The Motor Transport Association of Connecticut said Wednesday it reached that conclusion after reviewing available data from the Federal Highway Administration.
A simple calculation of the data shows that not even 20 percent of this state's highway user fees are put into highways, MTAC President Joseph Sculley said.
"Connecticut is the worst of the 50 states in terms of putting highway user fee revenue that it collects back into highways. This needs to change," Sculley said in a statement. "If more of the highway user fees that Connecticut collects had been put into highways, it is likely that Connecticut would have more capacity, and in turn, less congestion."
Sculley said that past trends regarding infrastructure spending must be identified and analyzed before moving forward with a plan to improve infrastructure. Otherwise, he said, trends that don't make good use of taxes and fees paid by car and truck owners and operators will continue. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE