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Coventry council waives impact fees for five affordable units in adaptive-reuse project
Summary
After extended debate, the Coventry Town Council voted to waive fair-share development fees for five low/moderate-income (LMI) units in Synergy Capital's 18-unit adaptive-reuse conversion at 484 Fairview Avenue, and directed staff to draft ordinance language for adaptive reuse impact-fee rules.
The Coventry Town Council on Monday approved waiving fair-share development fees for five low/moderate-income units in a proposed 18-unit adaptive-reuse conversion of a former church at 484 Fairview Avenue, following a lengthy public and legal discussion about how the town's fee code applies to adaptive reuse.
Attorney Tom Cronin, representing the developer, told the council the project converts a tax-exempt church into taxable residential units and argued the development would be "unequivocally an improvement" for the town by returning property to the tax rolls. He described the project as 18 units (15 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom units) with five designated affordable units and said water, sewer and many services already exist at the site.
Why it matters: Council members said the request raised a policy question about precedent and how the town's ordinance treats adaptive-reuse projects. The town solicitor and council members noted the municipal code does not yet include an adaptive-reuse category; without that, applying the schedule of per-unit fees can be legally difficult under state law.
Cronin asked the council to waive all impact fees. The solicitor advised the council that (a) the current ordinance and the state-mandated study underpinning it do not explicitly account for adaptive reuse, and (b) the council could exercise discretion but should ideally adopt code changes to treat adaptive reuse uniformly.
Councilman Houle moved to approve the developer's request as amended to waive fees only for the five LMI units; the amendment was seconded and the amended motion passed. Council members who supported the amendment said the project brings property onto the tax roll without creating new town roads or trash services and that the affordable-unit waiver is consistent with existing ordinance exemptions. Other council members opposed a blanket waiver and urged the town to update its code.
Numbers and next steps: The council recorded the LMI-unit exemption amount at roughly $29,002.70 (five LMI units as computed under the town's schedule), though staff said final line edits and figures would be corrected in the written resolution. The council directed town staff and the solicitor to draft an amendment to the fair-share development ordinance that creates a consistent adaptive-reuse approach for future projects.
Council reaction was mixed: supporters praised the reuse and the return to the tax roll; opponents warned against ad hoc fee decisions without an ordinance amendment. The discussion closed with the council passing the amended resolution and asking administration and planning staff to incorporate adaptive-reuse language into the code for future clarity.
