Stratford commission approves conversion of 1950 Main St. to three apartments with conditions

The Town of Stratford Zoning Commission on Wednesday approved a special permit and administrative site plan allowing the conversion of 1950 Main Street — a mixed-use building formerly housing a medical office — into three residential apartments, with conditions addressing landscaping, impervious-area calculations and interior lead-safe renovation work.

The approval, made during the commission's May special public hearing and administrative session, was accompanied by conditions from Planning and Zoning Administrator Susmita Atata and passed on a 5-0 vote.

The project applicant, attorney Barry Knott of the firm Knott, Knott & Done, told the commission the proposal would convert the first floor to two one-bedroom apartments and keep a two-bedroom unit on the second floor. Knott said the application is made under the town's Transit Oriented Development (TOD) regulations and sought a waiver of a required six-foot landscape buffer on the south side because a driveway runs there. "We can't put in a 6 foot landscape buffer without interfering with the driveway," Knott said, asking the commission to grant a waiver.

The commission's planner asked the applicant to provide additional details and recommended conditions. Planning and Zoning Administrator Susmita Atata recommended the commission approve the petition subject to conditions including: providing calculations of existing and proposed impervious area and resubmitting the survey before a building permit is issued; eliminating two rear parking spaces and keeping that area pervious lawn or landscaping to meet the TOD/residential impervious limits; replacing any chain-link fence with wood or vinyl per section 6.1.0.5(5) of the zoning regulations; and requiring an EPA-approved certified renovator or contractor to follow lead-safe work practices for interior renovations, per Stratford Health Department concerns.

Commissioners questioned where the proposed buffers would be installed and whether the applicant would remove parking to reduce impervious area; Knott confirmed the back and north-side buffers would be added and that the applicant is willing to remove spaces to meet impervious-area limits. The commission also noted the property had been reviewed previously by the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for other waivers.

With those conditions and the specific waiver for the driveway-side landscape buffer stated on the record, the commission voted to approve both the special permit and administrative site-plan review. The motion directed that the waiver and the administrator's recommended conditions be incorporated into the approvals.

The approval does not authorize any exterior renovations beyond the site-plan elements noted; Knott said the planned work is primarily interior. The conditions require the applicant to submit revised survey and drainage/impervious calculations and to comply with the Health Department's lead-safe renovation guidance prior to permits being issued.