A controversial expansion of Duncaster’s Bloomfield campus is moving forward again after the senior-living community withdrew its land-use application following a court fight with neighbors. The Bloomfield Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission voted 6-0, with one abstention, on Aug. 17 to approve changes to Duncaster’s wetlands permit for its property at 20-80 and 90 Loeffler […]
A controversial expansion of Duncaster’s Bloomfield campus is moving forward again after the senior-living community withdrew its land-use application following a court fight with neighbors.
The Bloomfield Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission voted 6-0, with one abstention, on Aug. 17 to approve changes to Duncaster’s wetlands permit for its property at 20-80 and 90 Loeffler Road.
The broader project calls for 90 new residential units — a 60-unit apartment building and 30 cottages. The apartment building will be considered separately because it is not subject to the wetlands regulations.
The commission’s vote dealt with changes to the cottage portion of the project and related site work. The original 2024 wetlands approval called for 60 apartments and 32 cottages.
Under the revised plan, the cottages would be moved an average of 40 feet farther from Loeffler Road, creating a 65-foot front-yard setback and more than 100 feet between the edge of the road and any part of the cottages. The number of cottages was reduced from 32 to 30.
The commission determined the changes qualified as a minor modification to the wetlands permit it approved in March 2024, and that a new public hearing was not required.
Duncaster withdrew its 2023 special permit application in June, nearly two years after neighbors sued over the Bloomfield Town Plan and Zoning Commission’s approval. Superior Court Judge Edward O’Hanlan overturned that approval in October, finding that technical problems had made much of the public hearing inaccessible to people participating remotely.
In July, Duncaster said it planned to refile the special permit application.
