By James Lomuscio
Developer Felix T. Charney, who wants to build 155 rental units on Hiawatha Lane off Exit 17 in Saugatuck, got support at Thursday night’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) pre-application hearing from an unexpected source—the Westport Housing Authority (WHA).
Felix T. Charney: developer is 1972 Staples grad and former P&Z commissioner. File photo
It has also been learned that the development proposed this time around will not be an 8-30g project, a state affordable housing law initiative that allows a developer to skirt local zoning laws.
Carol Martin, WHA’s executive director, gave her nod to the Summit Saugatuck plan becuase it includes a separate development that will offer 70 affordable units.
Because it is a separate development, Planning and Zoning Director Steven Palmer pointed out that 8-30g, which allows a developer to override local zoning laws if a municipality does not have 10 percent of its housing stock deemed affordable, cannot be used with this application.
According to Palmer, the affordable units pitched by Tim Hollister, attorney for Summit Saugatuck, would consist of one- and two-bedroom units arrayed in a two-story structure. Rents would be for incomes that are at 40, 60 and 80 percent of the medium area income.
There would be a three-story building for 85 market rate units.
This is the second time Charney, a one-time member of the P&Z in the 1980s, has proposed a development on Hiawatha Lane.
Last year he proposed under the state’s affordable housing law a much larger development but later withdrew when it was noted the development would overwhelm the area’s sewage system’s pump station. (See WestportNow Jan. 8, 2015)
This time Summit Saugatuck is working on its own sewage plan and expects to go before the Water Pollution Control Authority in the coming week, said Palmer.
