🔒Wallingford OK’s 66-unit housing development with 20 affordable units

A proposal to build a 66-unit housing development with 20 affordable units at 100 South Cherry St., in Wallingford was unanimously approved Monday by the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission. The project, which was proposed under the state’s affordable housing regulation 8-30g, is being developed by NextGen Development LLC of Fairfield. Veton Alimi, owner of Fairfield Building and Remodel, is a principal of NextGen Development. It acquired the 1.18-acre property for $610,000 in August 2024. The site is adjacent to Ward Street, located across railroad tracks west of the Dairy Queen on South Colony Street (Route 5). The site plan for the project initially was reviewed during the commission’s July 14 meeting, but a vote was postponed until Monday to allow the developer time to address issues raised by town staff. The plan proposes erecting four, three-story buildings. The largest building will have 26 units; the others will have 20, 14 and six units. Under 8-30g, at least 30%, or 20 of the units, must be designated as affordable. David Nafis, a principal with Nafis & Young Engineers of the Northford section of North Branford, said half of the first-floor units will be one-bedroom townhouses and half will be one-bedroom flats. Samuel Sargeant, an architect with the Wallingford-based architectural, planning and interior design firm Lazarus and Sargeant, added that there would be 33 first-floor units and by code at least 10% of those units must be handicapped accessible. Above the first-floor units, Sargeant said, would be two-level, two-bedroom townhouse units. “Typically, when it's a townhouse, there is usually a garage on the first floor,” Sergeant said. “But what we're trying to do is provide the maximum number of affordable units on this particular site.” The site plan provides for 77 parking spaces, including five handicapped spaces that can be relocated closer to any particular unit if necessary to accommodate a tenant. The parking lot will be accessible from Ward Street, but that location will be limited only to vehicles entering the property. Vehicles will be permitted to exit the property only via South Cherry Street. The property is located in a primarily industrial area along railroad tracks used by Metro-North and Amtrak trains that run north and south, so the buildings will be oriented east and west. That will allow the developers to include sound buffers on the east ends of the buildings to mitigate the noise and vibration for tenants, he said. Both Sargeant and Alimi added that NextGen is negotiating with owners of properties adjacent to 100 South Cherry St., in hopes of eventually developing a total of 100 to 105 units in that area. Commission members praised the application, citing the need for affordable housing in town. State Rep. Mary Mushinsky (D-Wallingford), the only member of the public to comment on the application, also praised the project for filling an urgent need. At the urging of commission Chairman Jim Seichter, the Alimi agreed to extend the proposed 40-year affordable housing covenant to 50 years. That 50-year covenant was then added as a condition of approval. The commission approved the project on a 5-0 vote.