Mixed-Use “Town” Plan Near Route 117/184 Corner: The Day
In an area where development tends to be either subdivisions or commercial strips, a developer is proposing bringing the two together in certain areas of Groton. Local planning officials have endorsed the concept of such zoning in the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, but they will have to decide whether the recent proposal by L&L Groton, LLC is right for Groton.
L&L Groton, a division of READCO Management of Old Lyme, wants to develop property on about 33 acres that would include “workforce housing” and a compatible commercial use at the northwest corner of Routes 184 and 117 under the new zone, said attorney Timothy Bates, of Robinson & Cole.
The housing would be a mixture of apartments and townhouses priced at a level “for working people,” Bates said.
Because the zoning does not yet exist, Bates said L&L Groton does not have a plan that would specify the number of units and type of commercial development.
The idea is to create amenities within walking distance to homes to minimize the use of a car, Bates said. It would be pedestrian-oriented, rather than parking-oriented. It could also help reduce sprawl and preserve open space, he said.
“You’re really creating a new town,” he said.
The new zone would be “floating,” meaning it would not actually appear on the town zoning map until a developer’s application for the mixed-zone on a specific property, with a master plan for the project, is approved by the town.
“This gives the Zoning Commission control,” Bates said. “It would require a degree of detail not required for any other zone change.”
The zones would be allowed in one of the “neighborhood nodes” identified in the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, or in certain industrial zones named in the town’s Strategic Economic Development Plan.
The nodes include the area around the Naval Submarine Base, the City of Groton, Poquonnock Bridge, downtown Groton, and the villages Mystic and Noank, which already have mixed uses.
The development area would have to be at least 25 acres and serviced by public water and sewer. Residences could include one-family, multi-family, townhouses, and apartments, and neighborhood commercial could be various types of retail and offices.
Director of Planning and Development Michael Murphy said mixed-use development could have both economic and quality of life benefits. The concept is one of the critical areas targeted in an upcoming revision of zoning regulations, he said, but it has to be done “in way that best protects the town.” Planning officials are reviewing the current proposal.
A public hearing on the concept will be held June 6, he said.
Environmental Impact, Land Use Regulations | April 12, 2007
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