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Zoning commission pauses action on Oronoke affordable-housing petitions; applicant submits sewer and engineering memos
Summary
Affordability LLC's petitions affecting Oronoke Lane were discussed during a public hearing; the applicant provided memos asserting sewer capacity and conceptual fire-access adjustments. Commissioners tabled decisions to the next meeting.
The Stratford Zoning Commission continued review and left decisions pending on petitions related to the Oronoke Lane affordable housing proposals filed under Connecticut General Statute 8-30g.
The petitions concern text amendments and zone-change requests for properties on Oronoke Lane (including filings that referenced 100 and 150 Oronoke Lane). At the resumed public hearing the applicant introduced technical materials for the record, including engineering memos and a letter about an asserted jurisdictional notice procedure.
Why it matters: The filings would rezone single-family parcels into an affordable housing district under 8-30g, which shifts legal review standards and can limit some local regulatory discretion. Neighbors had raised traffic and neighborhood-access concerns earlier in the review.
What the applicant submitted: Attorney Steven Bellas, representing the applicant, submitted two technical items into the public record: (1) a memorandum from the project engineer summarizing a conceptual site adjustment that would move the proposed building forward 20 feet to provide a 20-foot access strip at the rear for emergency apparatus; and (2) a memorandum stating sewer-plant capacity figures. Bellas read his engineer’s summary into the record and submitted memos from a soil scientist and an engineer. He said the Stratford wastewater treatment plant has an approximately 11,500,000 gallons-per-day permitted capacity and that current plant flow was about 8,000,000 gallons per day, leaving roughly 3,500,000 gallons per day of capacity; he reported projected average daily flow from the project of about 10,000 gallons per day.
Public testimony and applicant rebuttal: At the hearing residents again voiced safety and neighborhood compatibility concerns. Attorney Bellas emphasized statutory case law governing 8-30g applications and argued the commission’s options include requiring “reasonable changes” rather than outright denial without specific, quantified public-safety findings.
Outcome: The commission closed the public-comment portion on the Oronoke items and, during the administrative session, voted to table formal action on the petitions to the next meeting to allow staff and counsel to review the submitted engineering and sewer capacity materials.
Ending: The petitions for Oronoke Lane remain pending. The commission requested the additional technical materials be incorporated into the public record and will consider them at its next meeting.
