Orange again to air large mixed-use housing development proposal, part of it ‘affordable’
ORANGE >> The Town Plan and Zoning Commission will hold a special meeting and public hearing Tuesday on a developer’s revised proposal to build a mixed-use development that includes 60 apartments, 18 of them deemed “affordable” under the state’s controversial housing law.
Multi-family housing is a hot-button issue in town and the TPZC denied the developer’s proposal the first time around. The public hearing, during which residents can share their opinions, is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. in the lower level of Town Hall.The developer, Sixty Five Marsh Hill Road LLC, is seeking to build a mixed use project that includes underground parking, commercial and residential components at 65-69 Marsh Hill Road and 0 & 15 Salemme Lane. The project, which includes 60 apartments, will be known as “Marsh Hill Station.” Approval already has been granted near the location for a train station, 200 apartment units and a 900-car parking garage.
Jeffrey N. Gordon, site planner, landscape architect and president of Codespoti & Associates, who represents the developer, said in an email that the re-submission addresses certain points based upon the TPZC’s initial denial. The project density remains the same.
Gordon said the points include showing road and drainage design that does not depend on the construction of the train station, a sticking point in the last round with the TPZC.“It can be built tomorrow, and the construction for the train station can later be seamlessly integrated with our constructed project,” Gordon wrote.Another change is “adjustments in the building users to integrate with current permitted or non-prohibited uses in the District,” Gordon wrote. Instead of open retail, the new plan shows offices, a gym, a coffee shop and restaurant.The layout of the buildings and number of apartment units will remain the same as in the previous application.Gordon wrote that he and the team, including affordable housing expert attorney Thomas Lynch of Milford, “hope to better explain the nuances of the current zoning regulations respecting affordable housing.”He said the town’s Comprehensive Plan of Development has deemed the area as “suitable for higher density residential use.” He said the Plan of Development addresses the need for “Town Gateways” to give a sense of entry to the town.He also said the density of the proposal is only one-third that of what the TPZC approved a couple of hundred feet away at 57 units per acre.Gordon and Lynch are both experts in the state’s 8-30g affordable housing law. The law has been controversial in Milford, where numerous projects have been filed under the statute, and approved, because it allows developers to circumvent local zoning laws if a community has not reached a certain percentage of affordable housing stock. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE