New townhouse project proposed for East Norwalk
NORWALK — A local developer wants to tear down an East Norwalk home and build five new townhomes in its place.
Van Zant Apartments, LLC has filed an application to construct a new three-story building at 12 Van Zant St., according to plans submitted to the city last week.
If the project wins approval, the proposed 7,600square-foot building will replace a more than 140year-old house and a small detached garage that currently sit on the harbor-adjacent property.
“Van Zant proposes to
demolish the existing twounit dwelling and garage, and construct a new, five (5) unit, residential townhouse structure,” developers wrote in their application.
All five of the proposed units will feature two bedrooms and two bathrooms, according to an application for a site plan review filed with the Planning and Zoning Department.
Each unit will include roughly 1,400 square feet of space, including a twocar garage on the ground floor level. There will be 10 parking spaces in total, which is more than the seven parking spaces required under city regulations. A new driveway will also be paved.
In addition to constructing the new building, developers plan to overhaul the property’s landscaping.
Two trees will be planted along Van Zant Street and a series of hedges will ring the easter, southern and western edges of the 0.24-acre property. Recreational space will be set aside for the rear of the building.
The owners are also proposing to install exterior lighting on the front and next to the entrances on the western side of the townhomes. The lights will be shielded to prevent light pollution.
A traffic study commissioned by developers found that the net addition of three residential units on the site will not increase congestion or imperil pedestrian and vehicle safety on the two-lane street.
“This level of additional traffic added to Van Zant Street and nearby intersections is insignificant and will not have any measurable impact on traffic operations along Van Zant Street, at the proposed site access drive or at the intersections at Fort Point Street to the west and at the signalized intersections of Osborne Avenue to the east,” engineers wrote in the traffic study.
Representatives for Van Zant Apartments were not available for comment on Thursday.
The Norwalk Zoning Commission, which has the power to approve or deny the developer’s application, is tentatively scheduled to discuss the proposal at its May 6 meeting, according to Michelle Andrzejewski, a land use planner with the city.
If approved by the commission, the townhome development will be the latest multi-family project in East Norwalk. Last month, the commission signed off on plans to build 11 new townhomes in three buildings on nearby Winfield Street.
The Winfield Street project originally called for 14 apartments but developers were forced to come up with a scaled-down proposal after facing opposition from neighbors who feared the apartments would not fit with the surrounding area of mostly one-and two-family homes.