MHD Zoning—

P&Z Reviews Creating New Multifamily Zoning Rules

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering comments made by several local residential developers on a set of proposed zoning rules known as the Multiple Housing Development (MHD) regulations.

The rules proposed by the P&Z are intended to allow high-density multifamily housing complexes whose dwellings would be rented out or sold at market-rate prices.

The MHD rules are proposed to promote housing choice, economic diversity, and open space preservation. Such zoning would allow cluster-style construction for single-family houses, two-family houses, multifamily dwellings, or some combination of those housing types.

The intent of the proposed MHD rules is to allow diverse housing types locally. The vast majority of residents live in single-family houses.

The applicant for a MHD project would need to obtain a special permit from the P&Z for the construction. Such complexes would be allowed in R-2 and R-3 (Residential) zones. Such projects would only be allowed on major roadways. Such complexes would need to be connected to a public water supply and connected to municipal sanitary sewers. At least 30 percent of a development site would need to be reserved as open space and remain undeveloped. That open space would be jointly owned and maintained by the property owners at the site.

The complex’s maximum density would be limited to four dwellings per usable acre, based on a density calculation formula in which the presence of steep slopes and wetlands reduces a site’s potential construction density. Such projects would be limited to a maximum of 100 dwellings. The maximum number of dwellings in a multifamily building would be four units. Multifamily buildings would need to be constructed in the townhouse or the garden-apartment styles of architecture.

George Benson, town director of planning and land use, told P&Z members at a May 3 public hearing on the MHD zoning rules proposal that while the borough contains much of the local public water supply system and much of the public sanitary sewer system, the MHD proposal would not pertain to the borough, which has its own zoning commission.

The Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) is considering a creating a set of zoning rules on cluster housing, known as the Residential Open Space Development (ROSD) regulations, which would allow single-family houses to be clustered on a site to allow the preservation of at least 50 percent of the site as open space. (See related story)

Mr Benson said that three land parcels with R-2 zoning along the south side of Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6) near the Bethel town line would be the most likely places for MHD zoning to be used to build multifamily housing complexes.

Mr Benson said the specifics of the MHD proposal are subject to change based on P&Z’s members’ preferences for such development.

Developers

Residential builder/developer Kim Danziger of 5 Stonewall Ridge Road questioned the local need for MHD zoning, asking whether such rules would be used by any developers.

Mr Danziger said he had hoped that the MHD rules would allow a higher construction density than that proposed by the P&Z.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean responded, “We want to provide [construction] density without overcrowding.” The proposed rules would only apply to development occurring on major roads, she said.

 P&Z member Jane Brymer observed, “We’re trying to attract younger people back into Newtown” by creating regulations that would allow MHD development.

The MHD rules are intended for the “near future” not the “far future,” Ms Dean said.

Residential builder/developer George L. Trudell II of 9 Arthur’s Court commended the P&Z for being proactive in seeking to create MHD regulations.

Developers’ projects are driven by market conditions, he said. The lack of suitable local housing for younger people is a “real concern,” he added.

Mr Trudell said, however, that the requirement for MHD complexes to be connected to public sanitary sewers greatly limits the potential use of such rules. The sewering requirement “strangles this concept,” he added.

MHD rules that are more flexible could result in such complexes being built, he said.

Mr Trudell said that he favors open space preservation, but added that a MHD project would need to be financially practical for a developer to pursue it.

Successful development concepts need to both meet the public’s needs and developer’s financial needs, he said.

When developers consider whether to pursue a project, they consider what customers want, what is physically possible on a given piece of land, and what the land use regulations would allow, he said.

Mr Trudell urged that the P&Z provide more flexibility in the proposed MHD rules. In particular, the proposed density limit of four dwellings per acre would need to be increased, he said.

He said that a MHD complex could have “multigenerational” residents living at it based on the availability of mixed housing types there.

Mr Trudell said he favors having a town design review agency consider proposed plans for any such complex with the goal of providing attractive residences there. Developers realize that projects need to be attractive, he said.

The town has an agency known as the Design Advisory Board that reviews commercial development proposals for the town’s three design districts in Sandy Hook Center, Hawleyville Center, and along South Main Street south of Borough Lane.

“I’m very much concerned about how the town looks,” Mr Trudell said.

Residential builder/developer Michael Burton of 107 Glen Road told P&Z members that although he received P&Z approval for a 24-unit condominium complex, known as The River Walk, for Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook Center in January 2009, economic hard times have resulted in banks not making loans for such projects.

The as-yet unbuilt River Walk project, which the P&Z approved under the terms of its Affordable Housing Development (AHD) zoning regulations, would have eight of the 24 units designated as affordable housing.

Mr Burton asked whether the P&Z would consider letting him reapply to develop the 10.2-acre site at 12 through 20-A Washington Avenue under the provisions of the MHD rules. The site has R-2 zoning.

“I’ve been weighing what to do,” he said.

Mr Benson said Mr Burton could reapply to develop the site under the MHD rules if he chooses, provided that such MHD rules are enacted.

“The [MHD] concept is great,” Mr Burton said.

“We need to offer some diversity in housing,” Ms Dean said.

The P&Z is scheduled to resume public hearing on the MHD zoning proposal at its May 17 meeting.