Open Letter: Proposed Fairfield Apartments Could Worsen Flooding

Dear commissioners,

Affordable apartments at this site on Black Rock Turnpike may well be appropriate. Unfortunately, this applicant uses the broad authority of 8-30g to paper over a deeply flawed housing application.

As you have heard, Black Rock Turnpike directly in front of this property is subject to serious flooding. Floodwaters have overwhelmed automobiles and pose the immediate risk of drowning to pedestrians in the area.

The flood risk at this site exists because Connecticut Department of Transportation drains are currently overwhelmed by the volumes of rainwater runoff in a heavy storm. The applicant’s plan to connect site drainage to the Connecticut Department of Transportation drain system appears to be irresponsible and dangerous.

The applicant’s inadequate drainage plan will further tax the Connecticut Department of Transportation drain system and should not be permitted. There will be significant opposition from the public to any application to the Connecticut Department of Transportation that will increase the flooding risk on Black Rock Turnpike.

In 2014, your commission rejected an 8-30g application for an apartment building at 110 Berwick Ave. where there was a significant flooding threat. That rejection was sustained by the Connecticut courts. The decision in Berwick states in part, “the court determines that the decision to deny the application based, in part, upon increased traffic and flooding was necessary to protect substantial public interests in health and safety, and that those public interests clearly outweighed the need for affordable housing in Fairfield.”

Adequate parking for an 8-30g development is generally not a health and safety concern, but the recent 8-30g application for an apartment development on Beach Road demonstrated that overflow parking and site line issues have direct impact on health and safety. That appears to be the case with this application. There is no safe location for overflow parking, and parking on Black Rock Turnpike in the vicinity of the proposed development will create site line and other safety issues.

This is not the first application for this site to be rightfully rejected by this commission. The current application is another flawed attempt at development for this site. Health and safety concrete risks at this site on Black Rock Turnpike outweigh the need for affordable housing in Fairfield.

You must also decide on a text amendment to the zoning regulations submitted by this applicant. As you know, your rejection of a text amendment in the Berwick matter was also sustained by Connecticut courts. The judge’s decision made it clear that a text amendment must stand on its own and is not subject to the same severe restrictions on your decision-making authority as an 8-30g housing application.

The applicant’s proposed text amendment is not congruent with the Town Plan of Conservation and Development. Essentially, the applicant seeks to enshrine key elements of 8-30g requirements into Fairfield’s zoning regulations. 8-30g was meant to be applied in exceptional circumstances as a way for an applicant to avoid local zoning regulations. Incorporating aspects of 8-30g into local zoning regulations was not contemplated by the state Legislature when it adopted and modified 8-30g, and in the present case, the text amendment has no apparent purpose other than meeting financing requirements of the applicant. Please reject this spurious text amendment. It serves no public good.

The proposed text amendment has a lofty but misleading title: “Inclusionary Multi-Family Residential Use with a Housing Opportunity or Workforce Housing Component.” Adoption of the text amendment would serve the applicant but would not advance affordable housing in Fairfield in any way that is consistent with responsible town planning or the intent of existing zoning regulations.

Finally, it is important to correct the record in response to the pro forma critique of Fairfield’s progress on increasing affordable housing that was articulated by the applicant’s attorney. As your commission well knows, Fairfield has made serious efforts to create more affordable housing in town. An inclusionary affordable housing zoning regulation and a regulation requiring a significant amount of affordable housing in residential developments within transit districts have been successful. Fairfield’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, financed by a surcharge on building permits, is being used to acquire housing for affordable use.

Fairfield has a very active and effective Affordable Housing Committee. Your commission committed itself to assuring that affordable housing is spread throughout town. Criticism of Fairfield’s efforts to increase affordable housing is inaccurate and unfair.

Sincerely,

Alexis Harrison

Fairfield