City Says No to 23 Units on Pond Point

Published Dec. 19

The Milford Planning and Zoning Board Thursday denied the application for a 23-unit affordable housing development at 86 Pond Point Ave.

The decision comes after a handful of public hearings where hundreds of tense residents converged at Milford City Hall to protest the proposal.

Locals said the development would only worsen drainage issues in an already flood-prone area, add to congestion on a busy street and harm wildlife on the mostly-wooded 2.7-acre site.

Representatives for the developer, Colberg LLC, said the installation of a retention pond would mitigate flooding and actually improve draining in the area, traffic impact would be minimal and there are no endangered species on the site.

Nearby residents also voiced concerns over decreasing property values, fears that a spokesman for the developer called “overblown.”

The application was submitted under state statute 8-30g, a law passed in 1990 that enables the opportunity for affordable housing in Connecticut towns whose affordable housing stock is less than 10 percent.

The state statute allows developers to bypass local zoning regulations so long as at least 30 percent of the proposed units are deemed “affordable” for households earning less than the state’s median income, which is $54,000.

If a local zoning board wants to deny such an application, it must prove its health and safety concerns outweigh the need for affordable housing. In Milford, the figure is just above 6 percent.

Full report to come. Click here to read about affordable housing zoning did approve last week.