A Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) public hearing on two proposed zoning regulations requested by a development firm that wants to build a rental apartment complex at 19 Main Street is scheduled to resume at 7 pm on Wednesday, December 11, at Newtown Middle School auditorium, at 11 Queen Street.

Developer 19 Main Street LLC is seeking to create zoning regulations known as the Borough Residential Overlay District (BROD), and then apply the BROD rules to the 3.002-acre site at 19 Main Street, that holds the deteriorating former Inn at Newtown, which closed in January 2016. The controversial redevelopment proposal calls for demolishing the former inn and replacing it with three multi-story apartment buildings that would hold a total of 40 dwellings.

Most of the residents who spoke at the initial BZC public hearing voiced opposition to the plan.

A few people, however, supported it, while others suggested that such a facility be built elsewhere in Newtown to meet a local need for a diversity of housing.

If the BZC approves the two proposed regulations by “super majority” votes, in which four of the five BZC members vote in the affirmative, the developer would then need to submit to the BZC “engineered” design plans for technical review. The super-majority voting requirement was triggered by the town Planning & Zoning Commission’s (P&Z) recent decision that the two proposed regulatory mechanisms are “not consistent” with the 2014 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, a decennial planning document that broadly addresses land conservation and growth in the town and borough.

The proposed apartments would be “market rate” units whose monthly rents would range from $2,500 to $3,000.

In a letter to the BZC, the Borough of Newtown Historic District Commission attests to the historic value of the former Inn at Newtown, which is within the Borough of Newtown Historic District, noting that the structure is “worthy of preservation due to historic significance.” The redevelopment proposal would be subject to review by the Historic District Commission.

Also, a petition in opposition to the redevelopment project bearing 413 signatures has been submitted to the BZC.

According to a “conceptual site plan” submitted to the BZC by the developer, the proposed 40 apartments would each be approximately 1,200 square feet in floor area. Thus, the complex would contain about 48,000 square feet of living space. Also, there would be a total of 72 parking spaces, of which 22 spaces would be in the form of garage space on the bottom level of a larger apartment building located at the rear of the site. The other 50 parking spaces would be located outdoors behind two smaller apartment buildings positioned at the front of the site.