Affordable housing plan meets objections
Concerns over quality of location, health risks cited in Bloomfield
BLOOMFIELD — A potential affordable housing development for seniors and disabled people proposed for 15 Douglas St. has some members of the town council concerned about the quality of the location and possible health risks they say tenants may face.
At the May 23 town meeting, the town council approved the referral of an application to the zoning commission for the sale of 15 Douglas St., which is to be sold for $350,000, for the development of housing for seniors and disabled.
Mayor Danielle Wong said that back in the ‘70s or early ‘80s, the property, 13.3 acres of undeveloped land, was acquired by the state, but has since handed off to the town of Bloomfield. The area is a mix of residential and multifamily zoning adjacent to an industrial zone.
The proposal, by Cast Development Group LLC, includes the sale of the property for a threestory, 41-unit structure. The plan is for 33 one-bedroom units, and 8 two-bedroom units, ranging in size from 625 to 1,000 square feet.
The proposal has both independent living and assisted living components, services for memory care, rehabilitation, and other skilled nursing services. Just five of those units are designated for low-income housing.
The developer estimates construction would be completed in 2024.
“That is going to be over 75,000 square feet and we’re proposing to put seniors 55 and older near in an area that (is) going to have a lot of public health and environmental issues related to traffic pollution and air pollution from truck traffic,” Councilor Kenneth Mcclary said.
Mayor Danielle Wong also voted no.
“We have an opportunity here to refuse the sale of this. We thank the staff for doing their due diligence and making these recommendations but essentially, it is on the council to kind of fold that into our larger vision when it comes to opportunities for development all around,” she said.
“We have a significant housing boom of fair market housing right here in the center of town, which I think is great. There’s a real need for us to look into workforce housing as it relates to other income points that other families such as myself can afford,” she said. “I can’t afford to live in Heirloom Flats. I just can’t do that. We have a real opportunity tonight to say ‘hang on, let’s get some more information.”
Councilor Joe Merritt said he had concerns about whether the project could find a developer wanting to rent at market rate rents in that particular neighborhood.
“That’s not a great place for somebody to be. I just don’t think it is. It’s an area that we used to call the jungle when I was young,” Merritt said. “We tried to redevelop it back 15 to 20 years ago for commercial use… it’s a swamp. It’s very wet and it’s been under supported by the town. They don’t have city water sewers and things like that.”
Councilor Mcclary said the council needs more data before determining whether to support the development.
The issue is about social equity, Wong said.
“We have an elderly population, and want to make sure that they live in comfort and dignity… We need to educate the developer on these things as well. I think that once you lock these seniors in[to] (the potential housing units), they’re going to be very unhappy with the environment around this beautiful development,” she said. “When it comes to approaching [this issue] through a lens of equity, we want to make sure that we are diverting and doing our due diligence as a town to again direct these opportunities to the correct spaces that are going to work for the entire community of Bloomfield.”