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Planning board backs revised 176 Bloomfield Avenue redevelopment plan after negotiated changes
Summary
Following long negotiations related to litigation, the planning board found a revised redevelopment plan for 176 Bloomfield Avenue consistent with the master plan; the developer agreed to a three‑story, all‑residential building, a 40‑foot conservation easement and design standards that avoid blasting.
The Verona Planning Board on Feb. 19 voted to find the redevelopment plan for 176 Bloomfield Avenue not inconsistent with the master plan after staff and negotiators secured changes that reduced the development’s impacts on neighboring houses. Staff said the plan grew out of a settlement with DMH2 and replaces a previously proposed mixed‑use scheme with a three‑story, 100% residential building positioned closer to Bloomfield Avenue.
Miss Siobhan, the staff presenter, said the plan includes design standards, building‑material requirements and a conservation easement along the rear property line intended to preserve the existing wooded area and limit views into adjacent yards. She said the easement line is the existing treed area and that the easement is approximately 40 feet wide.
Asked about blasting and slope work, staff said no blasting is needed because the building footprint was pulled closer to Bloomfield Avenue and the parking garage was removed. "No blasting," a staff presenter said when asked directly about that concern.
The settlement also addressed parking: the plan allows the developer to rely on a system of municipal permit parking in nearby municipal lots rather than an on‑site garage. Staff emphasized that the applicant will still be required to submit a site plan to the planning board — at which time traffic and parking impacts will be reviewed in detail — and noted that the developer agreed to roof screening, setback adjustments and other design features to reduce neighbor impacts.
Board members praised staff’s negotiation work and credited planners and attorneys for securing concessions that reduced the developer’s originally proposed scale. The motion to find the plan not inconsistent with the master plan passed on roll call.
