Clashes continue on East Lyme zoning board
Democrat walks out of special meeting after suggestion criticized
East Lyme — Personality clashes continue to roil the Zoning Commission amid disagreement on how to address what otherwise appears to be a shared goal: how best to promote development in keeping with “village life” in the shoreline town.
Democrat Gary Pivo on Thursday night walked out of a special meeting after the rest of the board dismissed his suggestion to establish more specific site plan guidelines for multifamily housing developments.
The commission typically has a Democrat majority when all regular members are present.
But Thursday it had a Republican majority, with the seating of alternate James Liska. Since the November election, commissioners have defied partisan expectations with positions taken on issues.
Unaffiliated member Nancy Kalal, who was elected under the Democratic banner, often votes with the Republicans. And the resignation of Democratic commission chairwoman Debbie Jett-Harris early this year led to the appointment of Anne Thurlow, an unaffiliated candidate who lost reelection in November on the Republican ticket.
Pivo, in his abbreviated pitch Thursday night, called for “more articulate” site plan standards that take into account not just architecture, but delve more deeply into issues like how many units should be allowed on a site, what the water and sewer requirements should be, and how features like landscaping buffers and sidewalks can be incorporated into a project.
“If we want to continue to see multifamily projects that are incompatible with livability standards, unsafe, unsustainable, unecological, energy inefficient, ugly, then leave things the way they are. Because we’ll get more of that, that way,” Pivo said.
He said incorporating contemporary planning guidelines or regulations would discourage “the kind of suburban, profit-focused engineering solutions that are incompatible with the village life we want to sustain here.”
Liska, who replaced absent member Democrat Denise Markovitz, criticized what he described as Pivo’s “insulting” characterization of development in town.
“What I have seen, is the town looks really good,” Liska said. “So I don’t know what gap we’re trying to fill.”
Pivo declined Liska’s invitation to specify which developments he objected to. Pivo said he didn’t want to argue about already approved projects he considers “water under the bridge” at this point. Liska pressed the issue. “You specifically said these aren't meeting our needs. It was a little insulting,” he said.
That’s when Pivo walked out.
In a Friday email, he said he left the meeting because there was nothing to be gained from staying among the “argumentative and closed minded” members.
“I believe their attitude, which seems to be to muzzle me, is affecting their willingness to listen to the expertise I bring to the table,” he said.
Pivo is retired from the University of Arizona, where he holds the title of professor emeritus of urban planning. His biography there says he has published extensively on socially responsible property investment, urban water policy and sustainable urbanization, with involvement in numerous state, national and international initiatives.
‘Handcuffed’
Members in a subsequent discussion about updating the town’s commercial zoning regulations in the Flanders section of town went on to lament concerns similar to those Pivo had articulated.
Member Norm Peck III advocated for a change that would apply to Boston Post Road the same restrictions on mixeduse developments introduced last year on Main Street in Niantic.
The regulation prohibits the construction of new three-story buildings with shops on the bottom and apartments on top.
Peck, asked by member Mike Foley why second-floor apartments were a bad thing, said rampant development was driving up prices in town and making history disappear.
“It is our feeling, and I believe it like I believe I’m sitting next to you right now, that downtown Niantic was going to be demolished,” Peck said.
The new Niantic mixed-use regulation limits development to existing commercial buildings, where second floor apartments are allowed only within the current footprint.
The commission and members of the public have been critical of a trend toward large, three-story buildings like The Norton on Main Street, which features the popular Sift Bake Shop and luxury condominiums.
Zoning officer Bill Mulholland said there’s risk in making it harder to build projects that combine commercial and residential options. That’s because a developer can come in under the state’s affordable housing statute with a plan for more residential units on less space than zoning regulations allow, as long as 30% of the homes are designated as affordable to households in the lower income brackets.
He said that’s what’s happening now in his conversation with an unspecified developer who will be proposing an affordable housing development in Niantic, because he found out regulations don’t allow for mixed-use developments.
The state law makes it possible for developers to sue the town if their plans for affordable housing are rejected. The burden of proof in such cases shifts to the municipality to show the risk to public health or safety outweighs the need for affordable housing.
“This commission and the town is really handcuffed,” Mulholland said. “But it’s a state mandated program, and so we’re doing our best.”
Municipalities are beholden to the requirements of the law until 10% of their housing stock is deed-restricted as affordable.
Once the threshold is met, developers no longer get an automatic appeal when they put forth plans that don’t meet zoning regulations.
Mulholland said he is awaiting advice from town attorney Tim Bleasdale to determine if the town has enough affordable housing to qualify for a moratorium that would exempt the town from the affordable housing law for four years.
The exemption would give the town time to address the need for affordable housing on its own terms instead of waiting for developers to come in with their own plans.