94-Unit Apartment Complex Approved By Fairfield Officials

FAIRFIELD, CT — Plans for a 94-unit apartment complex off the Merritt Parkway can move forward after Fairfield officials signed off on the project Tuesday.

In a 5-1 vote, the Town Plan and Zoning Commission approved the application for the roughly 70-foot-tall building on a 2.3-acre property at 4185 Black Rock Turnpike.

“I do not see anything that would warrant us meeting the high burden to show this application should be denied,” commissioner Thomas Noonan said.

The developer sought zoning approval under state law Section 8-30g, which dictates the only way officials could deny the proposal is by proving the project poses a threat to public health, safety or "other matters which the commission may legally consider" that outweigh the need for affordable housing. The law applies to towns where less than 10 percent of housing stock meets state criteria to be recognized as affordable.

“I don’t believe that we have valid considerations that rise to the level of a substantial impact to public safety, health and welfare,” Chair Matthew Wagner said.

Of the nearly 100 apartments in the complex, 29 will qualify as affordable housing. The development, which will be called Merritt 44, will include 26 one-bedrooms, 68 two-bedrooms, and 139 parking spaces, which will be under the units and around the building.

The property — adjacent to a Merritt Parkway entrance ramp and neighboring Hotel Hi-Ho, Barcelona Wine Bar and the Wine Zone liquor store — was approved in 2015 to be the site of a medical office building, but an appeals process left that project unable to move forward.

“I am very pleased the Town Planning and Zoning Commission approved our application Tuesday night” Paul Richter, of developer Fairfield Medical LLC, said in a prepared statement. “The commissioners took a constructive, deliberative approach, and I am grateful they acted in such a fair and thoughtful manner.”

Residents and representatives of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy voiced concerns during public hearings about the size of the proposed building, its potential impact on traffic in the area and the effectiveness of its drainage system.

Wagner noted Tuesday that fire, police and engineering officials from the town all signed off on the plan.

Secretary Meg Francis, who cast the lone dissenting vote, expressed apprehension about the proposal.

“I find it very offensive to the Merritt Parkway,” she said. “I know with 8-30g that we’re very constrained, but it’s massive.”

The commission discussed approving the building on the condition that the developer remove a story from the structure or more generally lessen its scale, but in the end chose to vote on the project as proposed.

An application from the developer to amend zoning regulations in order to accommodate the building was denied on the grounds that it was unnecessary for approval of the complex under Section 8-30g.