An application to allow a 55-unit housing community to remove restrictions that limit it to residents aged 55 and over has been filed with the Bristol Zoning Commission.
An application to allow a 55-unit housing community to remove restrictions that limit it to residents aged 55 and over has been filed with the Bristol Zoning Commission.
The application was filed by Ian Lagowitz of Montclair, New Jersey-based Trigild Inc., the court-appointed receiver for Bristol Investments LLC.
The facility is located at 122 Park St. and was formerly a public school. After the school closed, it was sold to the current owner for $109,500 by the city, which in 2015 approved a zone change to multifamily residential but with a restriction for use by those aged 55 and over.
The project originally was approved for 41 units, including 38 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom units. In August 2016, an additional special permit request was approved to allow 11 more one-bedroom units and to convert the three two-bedroom units to one bedroom each, increasing the total number of units to 55.
The current application seeks approval to remove the age-restricted designation and allow the property to “function as a standard, non-restricted residential development,” it states. “The intent is not to alter the physical layout, density, architectural character or infrastructure of the project,” but instead modify the occupancy criteria and “long-term sustainability” of the facility, the application adds.
The applicants state that demand for age-restricted housing has declined, while demand for attainable, “modest-scale housing for young adults, local workforce and downsizing families has increased sharply.”
It adds that the age-restriction has become “a barrier to maintaining full occupancy.”
The Bristol Zoning Commission is scheduled to receive the application during its regular meeting Monday at 6 p.m. in City Hall and to schedule it for a public hearing.
