The developer of South Windsor’s Buckland Road Gateway project wants to more than double the number of residential units already approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The commission will discuss the requested zone change to increase the allowed number of residential units from 200 to 440 at a public hearing tonight.
The proposed zone change would allow an additional 240 apartments to be built by Evergreen Walk LLC in the Buckland area, Town Planner Michele Lipe said. The application also calls for an elimination of the existing 2-to-1 ratio of residential to commericial use within the area, and instead fall under the town’s general plan of development.
Lipe said that all 440 units could be multi-family and not age restricted.
The application comes at a time when PZC members and residents have discussed concerns that more apartments in town could put a strain on the local schools. In December, commission members noted that the town is spending just over $12,000 per student.
On Jan. 28, the PZC approved a zone change request in a 5-2 vote to allow a maximum of 125 apartment units to be built in the nearly-deserted Geissler’s plaza on Sullivan Avenue, restricting the number of two-bedroom units to 35 percent. The developer originally requested 40 percent of the units be two-bedroom apartments.
In July 2015 the Town Council unanimously approved a tax incentive offered to South Windsor Developers LLC, to build The Residences at Evergreen Walk in the Buckland area. The tax break had the developers pay $2,500 per unit per year for a five-year period, with estimated property taxes at the time for the nine buildings coming in at $500,000 per year.
At that time, council members believed that additional apartments would benefit the town economically, both in the short and long term. While still a councilman, Mayor Andrew Paterna said in 2015 that the tax incentive made a lot of sense.
Evergreen Walk LLC, in March of 2014, called for 200 residential units to be built, along with 725,000 square feet of retail, 75,000 square feet of recreation space, and 550,000 square feet of office space on Buckland Road’s west side. The application was unanimously re-approved following a delay caused in part by several lawsuits filed by the Chicago-based owners of the Buckland Hills mall, which raised environmental objections. Another lawsuit was filed in 2007 objecting to an easement granted in 2004.
In September of 2010, the PZC rejected a bid for a 200-unit apartment complex behind Evergreen Walk, fueled by concern about low-income housing. Three years earlier, however, the commission unanimously approved a revision of Evergreen Walk’s general plan, to allow the complex to almost double in retail capacity while incorporating 200 residential units into new designs.
In April of the same year, developers proposed a maximum unit limit of 200 residential units, which needed to be located above commercial spaces. A maximum of 100 units were allowed to be two-bedroom apartments. The PZC approved the change the next month in a 6-1 vote. At the time, residents who hesitated to support the change believed the development would congest traffic and increase school enrollment.
A public hearing on the proposal had been extended through the month, where residents throughout spoke in opposition of the apartments. In November of 2006, the commission rejected, 8-1, a zone change proposal of 400 apartments over a minimum of 10 acres, calling it, “a little too much, a little too fast,” for the town. Then-member Gary Bazzano, said at the time that the number of units would “compromise the town’s rural character.”
Two months earlier, in September of 2006, developers proposed limiting housing to 13.5 percent of the Evergreen Walk property. This was about 55 acres, or at a minimum, 25 acres. At the time, many residents who attended the hearing opposed the request.
