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Planning commission approves 16‑unit Sienna Condominiums permit with sidewalk condition
Summary
The commission approved a comprehensive permit for Sienna Condominiums (16 units, 2.2 acres, 25% affordable) and added a condition requiring a concrete sidewalk on one side of Sienna Lane from Main Street to the visitor parking area, subject to a technical infeasibility exemption.
The Coventry Planning Commission voted Dec. 17 to approve a comprehensive‑permit preliminary plan for the Sienna Condominiums, a proposed 16‑unit condominium development on 2.2 acres in the Village Main Street Commercial zone, and added a condition requiring a sidewalk connection to Main Street.
Thomas Cronin, representing Boulder Hill Development LLC, described an 8‑duplex condominium project with four deed‑restricted low‑ or moderate‑income units (25 percent of the total). Cronin said the project will be served by public water and sewer and that it meets the town’s density calculations; unit size was described at roughly 1,588 square feet with a 30‑foot building height. The proposal requested waivers related to private roadway standards and sought an adjustment to allow more than one unit on the parcel under the comprehensive‑permit process.
A neighbor, Peter Botella, urged the commission to delay a decision to allow the Coventry Historical Society to evaluate the property’s historic value; planning staff and the applicant said the parcel is not in a local historic district or a National Register district and that staff had discussed retention options but determined the site presented technical constraints.
Planning staff and commissioners discussed pedestrian connectivity. Planning staff offered draft language for a condition of approval that would require the applicant to construct a concrete sidewalk with a grass strip on the eastern side of Sienna Lane from Main Street to the visitor parking area, and allow the applicant to demonstrate technical infeasibility (for instance, stormwater permitting constraints) at final plan. The board adopted that condition as part of its motion to approve the comprehensive permit. The motion also incorporated the planning staff report and the list of waivers the applicant requested.
The approval authorizes zoning relief via the comprehensive permit and allows final plan review to proceed administratively with the added condition on sidewalks and the requirement that the applicant obtain town‑council approval for an easement over town‑owned land adjacent to Ken Ray Drive for emergency and utility access prior to final submission.
