A proposal to construct six two-story buildings with a total of 54 residential units on a vacant site in West Hartford will be considered Monday evening by the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.
Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners LLC is seeking approval of an Inland Wetlands and Watercourses permit for the project, which it states will have “no direct wetland impacts.”
The property was one of two adjacent sites sold for $3 million in May to West Hartford-based developers David Raisner and Ronald Webber. They paid $86,000 for the vacant, residentially zoned 0.63-acre property at 230 Newington Road, and $2.41 million for neighboring 60 Brook St., a 13.8-acre vacant property that previously was home to manufacturer Holo-Krome.
The properties were sold by H-K Connecticut Holding Co. LLC.
The application for the 54-unit residential development was originally submitted in April to the town’s Design Review Advisory Committee. It was submitted for the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses permit last month.
In a narrative included with the project, Honeycomb states the application is being submitted under Section 8-30g of the state’s General Statutes, which promotes the development of low-cost housing with long-term affordability protections.
In towns with less than 10% affordable housing, 8-30g allows a developer to override local zoning regulations and build housing as long as 30% of the units are guaranteed to remain affordable.
The law includes an appeals process to override denials of affordable housing proposals by local zoning boards without just cause. It ensures that municipalities cannot deny an affordable housing proposal unless there is a specific significant health or safety concern.
The project, dubbed Madsen Acres by the developers, proposes constructing the 54-unit multifamily development on the residentially zoned property at 230 Newington Road and a portion of the larger industrial property at 60 Brook St. It would include 38 one-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom units.
The narrative submitted with the application states that, “These units will be for sale,” but does not indicate how many of the units will be priced affordably.
The project also would include 71 parking spaces, storm drainage infrastructure and landscaping.
The property at 230 Newington Road is zoned R-6, while the 60 Brook St. property has two different industrial zones; the applicant states it will seek to change both properties to an RM-1/special development district zone.
The commission is scheduled to discuss the application during its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in Room 314 in town hall at 50 South Main St.
