The Planning and Zoning Commission in East Hartford unanimously approved a housing development last week by Habitat for Humanity that includes 10 free-standing, owner-occupied condominiums.
The Town Council approved the sale of the former town-owned project site at 550-560 Burnside Ave., to the nonprofit’s north-central Connecticut chapter for $100,000 in February. Officials said at the time that the town purchased the property in the 2000s for $3 million, with the intent of replacing the old apartment complex on the site with owner-occupied homes to reduce the number of rental properties in the area.
Benefits to such a plan include reducing housing density and increasing both the town’s tax base and a less transient neighborhood.
The website for the North Central Connecticut Habitat for Humanity lists the groundbreaking for the site as June 2023. Officials said in February that the organization hoped to complete all 10 units and outdoor common areas by no later than Dec. 1, 2025.
Habitat for Humanity, a global nonprofit organization, builds and refurbishes vacant homes using volunteer work, donated materials and money, and low-interest loans. The organization sells the homes to families who come from socioeconomic backgrounds that make ownership difficult, based on their need for housing, ability to pay, and willingness to provide volunteer services to the organization in the form of “sweat equity.”
On Dec. 14, the PZC approved a site plan, special exception permit, and zone change for the proposed development, to be named Burnside Hope, which consists of 10 homes on a shared road with a cul-de-sac and shared outdoor spaces.
Guy Hesketh, an engineer with F.A. Hesketh & Associates, said the two-story homes would all be roughly the same design, with four bedrooms and one full and one half bathrooms, as well as a storage shed attached to the back.
Kristopher McKelvie, director of construction with Habitat for Humanity, said the road would be private, and a condominium association would be tasked with maintenance of the grounds, including road repair and repavement.
McKelvie said the homes would be identical to those that the organization recently built on Chester and Forbes streets and on Rainbow Road in Windsor.
Hesketh said each home would have different exterior colors and roof orientations and treatments based on location in the association.
McKelvie said the “zero-rate” homes would use the least possible amount of energy and be designed such that the roofs are at optimal angles for solar panel placement. Solar panels would not be included with the houses in order to avoid locking future owners into a lease agreement.
Hesketh said the houses would each have a one-car garage and two external parking spaces, and the association would have seven visitor parking spaces in a central location.
Four large oak trees in the center of the property would be maintained in a passive recreation area, he said, and a 15-foot landscape buffer would be built around the perimeter of the entire property. The houses would also share a 30-by-40 foot dog park and a 30-by-100 foot community garden.
