Stonington PZC expands residential mixed-use projects into new zone

Stonington — The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday night to approve a proposal to amend the town’s zoning regulations by adding the general commercial zone to the districts in which residential mixed use is allowed with a special permit.

The change was proposed by the owners of the Mystic Coastal Flooring building on Old Stonington Road. Socalled residential mixed-use projects have become increasingly popular with developers who create projects that mix condominiums or apartments with retail and commercial uses, sometimes in a village-like setting. Residential mixed use already is allowed in four other districts in town.

The general commercial, or GC-60, zone is characterized by suburban-style commercial development on the outskirts of the town’s village areas, according to an analysis by Town Planner Keith Brynes.

In his analysis, Brynes wrote that in many suburban commercial areas across the country there is an oversupply of retail space with much of it at the end of its useful life or not meeting the preferences of modern customers.

“To address these issues, the private and public sectors have been increasingly turning to mixed use redevelopment. Such development can feature the addition of residential units above existing commercial space or in separate buildings on the same parcel,” he wrote.

Local examples of mixeduse buildings include the Allen Spool Mill in Mystic, two buildings at 804 and 808 Stonington Road (Route 1) and the Atrium at the Quarry on Granite Street in Westerly. Larger examples include Mashpee Commons on Cape Cod and UConn Storrs Center redevelopment.

Brynes said Tuesday night that the change would not only produce tax revenue but help meet the growing housing need in the region and create projects that would have to meet modern environmental standards.

The application by Alamoe LLC would have limited the residential mixed use to properties that meet the zone’s minimum lot size of 60,000 square feet or about 1.5 acres. One residential unit would be allowed for each 5,000 square feet of lot area, with a cap of 10 dwelling units on a lot.

There are currently 73 properties designated as GC-60 in eight areas of town, with 85 percent of them developed. Nearly half, though, do not meet the 60,000-square-foot minimum lot size.

The commission made two changes to Alamoe’s application before approving it. It decreased the minimum lot size to 5,000 square feet, so undersized properties could take advantage of the change. They still would have to meet all other applicable zoning, building, parking and safety codes. The commission also eliminated the requirement for buffers between a residential mixed use and a commercial building but could require buffers and screening if it feels one is needed for a project. Currently the CG-60 zone does not require buffers between commercial uses.

Property owners seeking a residential mixed use now will have to apply to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a special use permit to develop their sites.

Alamoe project architect Russell Sergeant told the commission during the public hearing Tuesday that the Mystic Coastal Flooring has been unable to find a commercial tenant for the second floor of its 37-year-old building for years. No one opposed the plan during a public hearing before the approval, while Economic Development Commission Chairman Dave Hammond said his members supported the plan.

Planning and Zoning Commission member Lynn Conway voted against the application after expressing concerns that there should be a required buffer between residential mixed uses and other uses in the zone.