Preston sets hearing on zoning for old hospital

Mohegans want $200M to $400M entertainment project for property

Preston — A public hearing will be held Tuesday on proposed zoning regulation changes to the Thames River Design District, which includes the former Norwich Hospital property.

Approval of the changes by the Planning and Zoning Commission following the hearing would be the last local action needed to release the state’s pledged $10 million grant to finish the property cleanup. The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which has been approved as the master developer of the 388-acre property, has proposed the changes, technically called a zoning text amendment.

The Mohegans’ proposal calls for a $200 million to $400 million recreational, entertainment and resort project.

The proposed changes are mostly technical or minor in nature, Town Planner Kathy Warzecha wrote in a report to the commission on the changes – including definitions, parking locations and how shared driveways would work – but the commission will have to address some issues.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection also has asked that “a stronger statement” on public access to the waterfront and water dependent uses be included in the plan, Warzecha wrote.

The hearing will be held as part of the commission meeting at 7:30 p.m. The meeting has been moved to the Preston Veterans’ Memorial School to accommodate the expected larger audience.

The most significant change involves proposed housing and the definition of what constitutes housing on the 388-acre property. Warzecha said the MTGA has proposed to delete the requirement for affordable housing as a component of any housing on the property. It also would reduce the maximum percentage of housing from 30 percent to 20 percent, but would remove from the housing definition items such as hotels, motels, time-share facilities, assisted living, nursing homes and so-called life care facilities.

“You need to decide if the following uses should be excluded in calculating the residential component: elderly housing and elderly active adult housing, which means that elderly housing or active adult housing will have no maximum requirement,” Warzecha wrote in her report to the commission.

Another provision in the town plan for the Thames River District called for commercial development to be done before housing could be built on the former hospital property. The MTGA has proposed removing that restriction.

Sean Nugent, chairman of the Preston Redevelopment Agency that negotiated the Property Disposition and Development Agreement with Mohegan tribal officials, said he plans to speak at the hearing Tuesday.

Nugent said the housing provisions placed in the zoning regulations were written when the town anticipated having multiple developers interested in individual parcels at the Preston Riverwalk property.

“With one major development,” Nugent said of the housing component in the regulation, “it doesn’t make sense to have that restriction.”