Bethel planners OK affordable housing project
BETHEL — The Planning and Zoning Commission has approved an 8-30g affordable housing project proposed by local developer Tim Draper that calls for the construction of a multifamily building at 42 Nashville Road.
The development, which received unanimous approval during the commission’s Nov. 28 meeting, includes the construction of three, two-bedroom rental units south of an existing twofamily house.
The building — which Draper’s attorney, Neil Marcus, said will be “in harmony with the type of structures that exist along that road” — will be constructed on a 0.32acre property that Draper has owned since 2016.
Draper has said the development will look similar to the one he did on Goodhill Road, and two of the five units on the property would be designated affordable under the 8-30g state statute, which requires at least 30 percent of units be affordable for families earning 80 percent or less of the area or state median income.
The statute also allows affordable housing developers to bypass local zoning laws with certain exceptions for health and safety. Marcus informed the Planning and Zoning Commission in September that adjustments would be made to address concerns raised by the town’s fire marshal regarding access to the rear of his client’s property.
Draper — who has completed three 8-30g projects in Bethel over the past several years, including the 18-unit Ledge Woods complex on Taylor Avenue — said he’s received a lot of criticism for his developments, but claims they fulfill a housing need in the town.
“Bethel is a unique town because there are people who have a lot of money and people who don’t,” he said earlier this year, adding that those who benefit from his developments include lifelong and longtime Bethelites like himself.
Residents pushed back against Draper’s latest proposal, citing traffic and overdevelopment.
“I don’t feel that we need more housing. That is going to create more traffic,” Nashville Road resident Gail K. Schultz said during the public hearing on Draper’s application, adding that she and her neighbors already have trouble getting out of their driveways during rush hour.
In Bethel Police Lt. Robert Durkin’s Aug. 29 traffic evaluation report, there was no mention of worsening traffic conditions due to the proposed development.
Draper submitted his 42 Nashville Road proposal four months after the state Freedom of Information Commission ruled that the town violated public records laws by refusing to provide public access to unedited video from a March 2022 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, during which a microphone picked up Bethel Town Planner Beth Cavagna making what the FOI Commission described as “negative comments” about Draper.
The meeting video was later uploaded with the hot mic moment cut out, and when Draper’s wife requested a copy of the original video, she said the town refused to provide it to her.
In the wake of the FOI Commission’s February ruling, Cavagna recused herself from Draper’s 42 Nashville Road application, and the Bethel Planning and Zoning Commission retained Cheshire-based SLR Consulting to review the proposal.
The Planning and Zoning Commission opened a public hearing on the application in September, which got off to a contentious start with Draper airing his grievances about what he described as mistreatment by the Bethel’s Land Use Department and Planning and Zoning Commission.
“My applications have always been roadblocked by this commission, previous commissions and the Bethel Land Use Department,” he had said. “Every application we have submitted has been met with difficulty.”
Describing his application for 42 Nashville Road — which he submitted June 27 and the commission approved July 11 — as “straightforward and uncomplicated,” Draper said he had already faced challenges.
“It took from July 11 … until Sept. 8, to receive comments from SLR — that’s 61 days … leaving us two days to review and respond before this public hearing,” he said. “This … seems to be the norm with all of my applications.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission closed its public hearing on Draper’s Nashville Road project Oct. 10, and reviewed a draft resolution to approve it during its Nov. 14 meeting.
Fourteen days later — and one day after the town’s Inland Wetlands Commission approved an application for regulated activities at the site — the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the 8-30g application Nov. 28.
“The commission has carefully considered the application with regard to the project’s location, density, architecture and site design and have determined that this affordable housing project will not imperil the health, safety and welfare of the community,” the resolution stated.