Attorney Timothy Hollister made a case for the proposed 102-unit 8-30g development at 751 Weed St. during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in New Canaan Town Hall on June 22, 2022.

NEW CANAAN — Planning and Zoning Commissioners have raised public safety concerns at the site of a proposed 102-unit 8-30g development at the corner of Weed and Elm streets.

The project calls for a U-shaped building that would include 31 affordable apartments, under the CT General Statute 8-30g, on a 3.1-acre property that now has a 10,000-square foot single-family home built in the 1920s.

Commissioners said that they would deem the intersection of Weed and Elm, one they already consider troublesome, as “dangerous” if the project moves forward.

Traffic Operations Engineer Kevin Soli said at a P&Z recent meeting that, according to his traffic studies, the development would generate a total of 37 trips during morning peak times with 10 entering and 27 leaving and an additional 45 trips during the evening peak with 27 entering and 18 leaving.

Commissioner John Engel said the intersection is dangerous due to motorists speeding on Weed Street, poor visbility for drivers and high traffic density at stoplights.

Other commissioners also referenced issues with the study.

Soli said he spoke with New Canaan Police Deputy Chief John Difederico regarding the proposed project, and that the he cited “no safety concerns or accident patterns that would be problematic for him in this area.”

Those defending the application, proposed by well-known local developer Arnold Karp, argued that zoning in New Canaan, while perhaps not intentional, is exclusionary and that the building will not create a safety hazard.

The town has made “relatively little progress” toward the state’s 8-30g goal of 10 percent affordable housing for municipalities, even though the statute has been in effect 32 years, Attorney Timothy Hollister said.

In 2000, 1.8 percent of the housing in town was affordable. In 2022, there is 2.9 percent, ranking New Canaan 114 out of 169 towns in the state, according to the Department of Housing, he said.

The town’s Plan of Conservation and Development acknowledges a need for “diverse housing portfolio,” according to Donald Poland, managing director of planning strategy at Goman+York Property Advisors LLC. His team “looked for barriers to multifamily, residential and affordable housing in both POCD and zoning,” he said.

He deemed the zoning regulations exclusionary since two-thirds of land is zoned for two-to-four acre single-family housing; 80 percent is zoned for single-family housing on an acre or more; and less than two percent of zoning allows for multi-family housing, he said. He found 97 percent of land is developed or committed.

“I recognize your struggles,” Poland told the commission. He said he understood the exclusionary zoning may not be deliberate. He told the commission that before them was a good development, which “doesn’t threaten public health, safety and welfare.”

Poland argued that studies conducted by MIT and Harvard universities, showed that multifamily housing does not adversely impact the property values of nearby single-family homes, while some commissioners provided pushback.

According to the 8-30g regulations, the commission may only deny the application if it there is evidence that the development will cause a “substantial public health or safety concern,” Hollister said. The health and safety concern would be a determinant only if it can not be addressed by reasonable changes to the site plan, he said.

Each of the affordable units will have identical amenities, finishes and quality so there is flexibility when residents increase their income to a point at which they are no longer eligible, they do not have to move, Hollister said. Instead, another apartment would be made affordable when one becomes available.

The affordable units will be dispersed among the 47 one-bedroom apartments, 47 two-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom units with dens. Rents for market rate apartments will be $2,500 to $6,000. For the affordable units, a tenant with an annual income of $61,740 would pay $1,419 monthly for the one-bedroom and a resident with an income of $74,088 would pay $1,727 for a two bedrooms. The one-bedroom units are expected to measure 969 to 995 square feet and the two-bedroom units would be 1,051 to 1,168 square feet.

Hollister challenged the commissioners to each sign statements saying they have not signed a petition opposing this application, have not made a financial contribution to a group opposing this application and have not made it known to anyone prior to thne hearing that they intend to vote against this application.

Planning and Zoning Chairman John Goodwin refuted the request, calling it "insulting."