New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Public hearing this week on housing proposal
MADISON — A proposal to create seven housing units on a Boston Post Road site is to be aired by the Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday.
The proposal is for a cluster housing development on about 2 acres at 856 Boston Post Road, also known as The Ledges. Site work would include blasting as development would be built on ledge.
The property owner is Faith Whitehead and the applicant for The Ledges of Madison is 856 Boston Post Road LLC.
The plan for the 1.81 acres includes knocking down the carriage house currently on the property; construction of three new homes, of which two would be duplexes; renovation of the main house into two residences; and construction of a driveway, parking area and sidewalk, wastewater system, storm drainage and landscape improvements, according to the Coastal Site Plan application filed Feb. 19.
Each individual home in the newly constructed buildings would not exceed 2,250 square feet. There is an exception for the size of the two units in the main house, once divided.
Plans include maintaining and preserving the main house, The Ledges, built in 1903, as well as the existing stone walls. This home is not visible from Route 1.
One home, called the Gatehouse, would be built at the foot of The Ledges, on Boston Post Road. That residence, along with the two residences in the existing house, would have a two-car garage. The duplexes would each have a bay with a two-car garage.
Town Planner Dave Anderson said he supports the project in theory, but “the specific detail of the proposal obviously need to be carefully considered.”
“The general concept of trying to find opportunities for new housing in proximity to the downtown is something that the Planning and Zoning Commission supports,” he said.
Anderson said a development like this in town should be of interest to all residents.
“There’s probably some folks that feel that it’s a positive project because it is increasing our housing opportunities in the proximity to the downtown,” he said. “So, I think it should of interest to everybody.”
The proposal has drawn both supporters and detractors.
Laura Downes, whose home abuts 856 Boston
Road to the south, said she is worried about the proposed blasting, as well as noise and traffic.
Blasting was discussed extensively at the March 1 meeting of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency. Geologist and explosives engineer Richard Hosley Jr. presented a geologic history of the property, according to the meeting notes.
“If the explosion is designed
correctly, only the rock that needs to be broken can be broken,” according to Hosley, who showed photographic examples of line drilling done to preserve adjacent structures, the meeting minutes said. At that meeting Hosley noted state and federal regulations “govern the use of explosives on site; there is a lot of public involvement, notification of the work to take place, conversations with property
owners to determine how structures were built, and blasting always starts furthest away from a point of concern.”
Resident Austin Hoag supports the proposal.
“I believe downtown is the best place for higher density housing as it will keep the area vibrant with foot traffic,” he wrote via Facebook messenger.
Whitehead said the project would be explained during the hearing.
Resident Robin Phillips said he thinks the development would irrevocably change the charm of the neighborhood.
“It is going to change the character,” he said.
Regarding banners and lawn signs that have popped up about the proposal, Anderson said he is “saddened in some ways by the way the way that opponents of this application have chosen to voice those concerns. I think we provide a really good mechanism for them to do so without these giant banners being posted.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the plan 7 p.m. March 18 via Zoom. A link to the meeting can be found on the town’s website at http://bit.ly/3bPneVB.
The proposal then will go before the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency. That agency group must make a decision on the plan before the Planning and Zoning can make a decision.