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City officials move forward on rezoning 62 Maple Ave after hospital gift; planning board finds change consistent with master plan
Summary
The city intends to rezone part of 62 Maple Ave (gifted by Cheshire Medical Center) from industrial park to medium density to allow subdivision and potential future uses, including a relocated fire station; PLD and the planning board unanimously recommended setting a public hearing and found the change consistent with the 2025 master plan.
The Planning, Licenses and Development Committee unanimously voted to ask the mayor to set a public hearing on Ordinance O-2025-34, a City-initiated rezoning that would change a portion of 62 Maple Avenue (TMP 227-006-000) from industrial park to medium density.
Senior planner Mary Brenner and planner Megan Fortson explained the rezoning follows a negotiated gift of roughly one acre from Cheshire Medical Center as part of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement; staff said the industrial park district’s minimum lot size prevented a clean subdivision of the acreage. Staff proposed rezoning four parcels (62, 84, 90 and 100 Maple Ave) to medium density and changing two parcels across Route 12 (Tax Map 513, Lots 1 and 2) to low density so that existing uses, including institutional uses such as Trinity Lutheran School and hospital-related residency buildings, would be conforming.
Staff told the committee that medium density zoning would allow a wider set of residential options ("missing middle" housing types) and that the site could suit a future centrally located Fire Station 2 or other municipal needs. Planner Fortson noted dimensional differences between the industrial park and medium-density districts — most notably the industrial park’s minimum lot size (about 4 acres) versus medium density’s 8,000 square-foot minimum — and said the proposed change would make two nonconforming single-family parcels conforming.
Councilor Jones moved and the committee amended O-2025-34 to include the additional parcels in the resubmitted "A" version; the motion passed unanimously, as did PLD’s motion recommending the mayor set a public hearing. The planning board then moved and voted unanimously to find the amended ordinance consistent with the 2025 comprehensive master plan.
Next steps: staff will prepare noticing for the mayor to set a public hearing and the council will take a final vote after the public hearing and PLD referral.
