News 04132005

	Village of Devon WELCOME Milford, Connecticut

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Photo Courtesy Steve Wing, Architect What a wonderful addition to Devon.	Thank you to Chris Saley (owner of Bridge House) and all of the hardworking committee members for the successful completion of the 1st Mural Project.
DEVON REVITALIZATION DECEMBER MEETING CANCELLED 7:00 p.m. at the Margaret Egan Community Center Room 169 (meets 2nd Thurs. of each month)
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04/13/2005

Objections to housing plan may be futile

Phil Helsel , Register Staff

MILFORD — Despite concerns from some Naugatuck Avenue residents who say a proposed affordable housing complex will choke streets, contribute to juvenile delinquency and otherwise blight their neighborhood, city officials and the developer say there isn’t much they can do about it.

"If it meets all the regulations, regardless of what the public thinks about it, there isn’t much you can do to deny it," Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Jack Jansen said Tuesday.

The housing is proposed by James D’Amato, son of D’Amato Brothers Builders owner Louis D’Amato; the younger D’Amato formed Naugatuck Avenue LLC for the project.

Some neighbors say the planned 28-unit affordable housing development will add more children to a neighborhood that already has youths congregating in front of stores. Others questioned why the city has singled out the economically challenged Devon neighborhood for affordable housing.

"Why is it always in Devon?" said Bruce Butler, 42, who owns B&B Power Equipment at Janet Street and Naugatuck Avenue, as well as a house next door that he rents out. "You don’t see this type of thing going up in Woodbridge or (on) North Street."

The proposed housing complex is slated for an overgrown thicket between small houses and a Sunoco gas station on Naugatuck Avenue, near Milford Point. According to plans submitted to the PZB, six buildings housing 28 one- and two-bedroom apartments would be built there, with nine units designated as "affordable."

Four of the nine apartments would be for occupants who earn 80 percent or less than the median area income of $76,660; the remaining five would be reserved for occupants who make equal to or less than 60 percent of the median income, according to the plans.

Market-price apartments are expected to fetch from $1,200 to $1,400 a month, Louis D’Amato said. With discounts, they would range from about $700 to $900 a month, depending on size.

D’Amato, who said he is advising his son on the project, pointed out that the city designated the neighborhood for affordable housing last year, and that if residents were concerned, they should have done something about it then. Jansen said that the city approved affordable housing there last year, otherwise developers could set up the housing wherever they chose.

"If we don’t have a place for affordable housing, we have no basis for denying it anywhere because there’s no other place for it," Jansen said. "I think there’s a need for real affordable housing, which means housing that people can afford to buy."

Affordable housing as defined by state statute allows developers to circumvent traditional zoning regulations, but local boards still must approve a special permit. The PZB will hold a public hearing on the project at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday in the City Hall auditorium.

Loretta Drinkwater, a mother of three who lives around the corner from the proposed development, said the housing complex would add more children to a congested neighborhood.

But D’Amato said that the project follows all state and local regulations. He said local opposition to new housing in Milford and other southern Connecticut communities is one reason why real estate prices are so high, making affordable housing necessary.

"(The city) invited me to do this," said D’Amato "If the neighbors don’t want it, they ought to complain to the zoning board. I don’t know where they were when the zoning was changed."