The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Judge rejects planning board’s denial of beachfront development
MILFORD — Real estate developer and former GOP congressional candidate Margaret Streicker has won a legal battle to build a new beachfront apartment building that the city fought but later admitted that it had no legal grounds to oppose.
Superior Court Judge Edward O'Hanlan upheld a civil court appeal by Streicker's attorney, Timothy S. Hollister, claiming that the Planning and Zoning Board overstepped with a 6-1 vote on Nov. 21 denying her attempt to replace a Shell Avenue apartment building that she owns.
The board said it favored neighbors' concerns that the project would generate too much traffic for the street, despite public safety reviews, which concluded that the traffic generated by the new building's tenants wouldn't pose a safety threat.
In O'Hanlan's decision, released Thursday, he said there was “no good faith basis to argue that Plaintiff is not entitled to” proceed with her plans. Attorney Matthew Woods, trial counsel for the City Attorney's Office, conceded that in his March 11 response.
“There is no genuine issue of material fact in this (zoning appeal),” Woods wrote. “As a result, the Defendant has no good faith basis to argue that the Plaintiff is not entitled to (a favorable) judgement as a matter of law.”
Woods referred to his and Hollister's March 7 stipulation of trial facts,
which pointed out that the board's denial “did not identify any type or probability of harm that would result from the site plan; did not identify a substantial public interest in health or safety; did not acknowledge affordable
housing need, or balance its denial against need; and did not identify reasonable changes that would alleviate site plan concerns.”
said Friday that he wanted to review the decision before commenting. City Planner David Sulkis said he sympathized with the neighbors' concerns.
“The staff report said that it was a zoning compliant inasmuch as an 830g application can be. I agree that the court made the correct decision,” Sulkis said.
Streicker's company, Fortitude Capital LLC, sought to demolish the aging nine-unit building at 25 Shell Ave. and replace it with a 20-unit structure that includes several affordable housing units per state statute 8-30g. Enacted in 1989, 830g is a state law designed to encourage building of affordable housing with 30 percent of the units designated for rent at below market rates to people earning 80 percent or less of the area's median income.
The statute grants developers the right to bypass local zoning boards unless the boards can prove that the projects would harm public safety.
The judge ordered the board to approve the project. James Quish, the board's chairman, said he wasn't sure whether he would ask the board to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Hollister expressed satisfaction with the ruling.
“I am not sure that I would call it a battle,” Hollister said of the case. “They (the defendants) pretty quickly agreed that it should be resolved without a full-blown set of briefs and a hearing. My client's development team did a great job with this project. I think it will be a nice addition to Shell Avenue and the vicinity.”