New development further explored for affordable housing

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KENT—Kent Affordable Housing is laying the groundwork for development of a 1.159-acre parcel on Kent Common for 10 additional dwelling units.

The town has agreed to transfer the land to KAH pending all needed approvals for construction. The property is adjacent to South Common, the 24-unit affordable housing complex KAH built in 2003.

Justin Potter, president of KAH, appeared before the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) Monday, Nov. 25, to get informal feedback from members about the housing plan.

Much of Kent Common is wetlands or is within the regulated area and members of the commission were keenly interested in issues about drainage, access and tree removal.

The site also borders Kent Commons Park, and KAH and the Park and Recreation Commission are working cooperatively to resolve drainage issues.

Potter recently walked the site with Park and Recreation Director Matt Busse to assess problems. Busse is preparing a Request for Proposals for its portion of the project.

Paul Selnau, architect for KAH, explained to the IWC that there are two potential designs for the property, one of which would have more impact on the wetlands than the other. 

“Zoning regulations have a lot more flexibility than Inland Wetlands,” said Zoning Enforcement Officer Tai Kern. “Zoning can waive certain conditions.”

But Inland Wetlands must approve any plan before the Planning and Zoning Commission can act.

IWC Chairman Lynn Werner asked how much of the wooded lot would be cleared and Potter said that has yet to be determined.

“That lot is pretty well wooded,” Werner observed, “and you might have an easier sell with the town if there is a [buffer] of trees.”

She commented on South Common which has a high density of population on three acres.

“It still has a sense of being in the country and it would be great to carry that to the new site to the extent that you can,” she said. “The woods actually do play a critical role in that.”

Selnau said he spent “a lot of time trying to find a gentle way of bringing traffic in and out [of the site] consistent with the contours of the lot” but that the plan did not take into account existing trees. 

Current plans show access to the site from South Common with a construction and emergency exit out through the town’s Department of Public Works property.

There were sharp questions from commission members about this and Potter said he had discussed it with First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer and DPW Foreman Rick Osborne and that it “seems feasible.”

Werner observed that the smaller site plan put the development within the regulated area but outside the setback for the stream that flows through the site.  

“We would like to minimize the impact,” said Potter, “but from an esthetic and zoning impact, we might get push back, so we want Wetlands’ reaction to the larger plan, too.”

“I would like to see the actual site on a map that shows existing conditions and the potential cleared conditions for each plan,” she continued. “It seems the impact from the smaller footprint is not that much, but I need to know how far it goes into the regulated area.”

Potter said the preliminary drawings include an “over-abundance” of parking spaces and that the lots could be reduced to further minimize the effect on wetlands. 

“Downtown is where you want to see this kind of development,” Werner said. She acknowledged that the site “has been modified so much over time,” but urged that to the extent possible the plan should retain a natural system of collection and diffusion, doing most of the work of cleaning water that runs off parking lots.

“That is very much part of our discussion with Park and Rec,” Potter said. “We will be creating a swale to redirect the water.”

Kern said that making the surfaces of parking lots and roads permeable would help diminish run-off.

The problem of drainage on the site also came before Park and Recreation when it met Monday, Dec. 2.

Busse reported to the group that the swale on Park and Rec’s land would be dug out and that a retention pond would be created near the tennis courts.

The drainage plan will have to be presented to the Inland Wetlands Commission. 

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