By Ken Valenti

Affordable housing remained a sticking point for the Spinnaker Real Estate Partners development plan in Saugatuck when the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a pre-application of the project last night.

At the same Zoom meeting, commissioners agreed that they need to change zoning in the area, called “General Business District/Saugatuck Marina” (GBD/SM), but they argued over the next step. 

Spinnaker’s plan would designate 10% of its 165 units as affordable housing, half the 20% required. Several commissioners opposed the idea.

“Going below 20% is where I step off this,” said Commissioner Craig Schiavone. “This is a very large project. I understand there are difficulties and constraints in developing this. And the numbers are tough, but somehow with the affordable housing, we just need to have everyone sharpen their pencils.”

Spinnaker attorney Adam Blank said the development team had scaled back the project from 240 units before even bringing it to the commission, after discussing it with the neighbors of the property at 606 Riverside Ave.

 “(The developer) scaled it back and scaled it back further to try to come up with something that we thought would have a fair amount of support,” he said. “Twenty percent affordable is achievable. I’m just not sure it’s achievable at 165 units.”

Commissioners favored some of the changes the developer has made from the original plan, reducing the number of units, increasing setbacks and creating an open plaza at the corner of Charles Street and Riverside Avenue.

Chairman Paul Lebowitz also challenged why the 6-story building would need to rise 77 feet. Units originally planned in the sixth floor have been eliminated; the space is now planned as loft areas for fifth-floor units, which now would be built as duplexes.

The project is next scheduled to be discussed by the Architectural Review Board on July 28.

Spinnaker also gave its input on discussions of the zoning for the larger area, recommending the General Business District Saugatuck, or GBD/S zoning, like the nearby Gault properties. However, even that zone would not work exactly for Spinnaker’s project, and Blank suggested creating either a special transit-oriented development sub-area or a floating zone.

Commissioner Michael Calise, fearing that the GBD/SM zoning opens the door for developers to attempt projects such as the controversial Hamlet plan the commission rejected last year, pleaded with the other commissioners to return the area to a General Business District (GBD), its previous zoning. The GBD regulations, posted on the town website, encourage “general commercial and office development in designated areas located along arterial streets, limiting the intensity of development and providing adequate off-street parking.”

.“We desperately need a commission that has the guts to make this decision,” Calise said.

The commission voted to send the zoning matter to its Zoning Regulation Revision subcommittee at noon next Monday, with the goal of giving the zone an interim designation while they continue to discuss the matter.

Calise objected to the additional step, arguing that returning to the GBD zone “is a very simple solution.”

Lebowitz said the GBD zoning was a bad fit for the area along the Sautatuck River, rewarding “large swaths of parking” for commercial building among other provisions.

Lebowitz argued that the so-called Gault Zoning, officially GBD/S, was a better option.

During the exchange, a frustrated Calise said, “The real problem here is that you, Paul, do not want to show the leadership that’s necessary to get this problem solved. You’re backing away from a position of strength and a position of accomplishment. It is very distressing as a commissioner myself to see this happen. This has been dragging on for months.”

“I’m sorry to distress you,” Lebowitz said. “Look, the parking for GBD is not right for Saugatuck. Period. End of story….The GBDS allows the right kind of parking for down there. That’s why it worked. Shared parking concepts are permitted. The parking requirements are reduced. It was created for that area.” 

In the end, Calise voted with the majority to send the matter to the subcommittee, while Commissioner Patrizia Zucaro cast the only vote against the idea, saying that the matter has been discussed for a year and should come before the full commission in a regularly scheduled meeting.

Last night’s session was a special meeting held to hear Spinnaker’s updated presentation, after the topic was postponed from last week’s regular meeting because not all commissioners were present.

The committee meeting will take place on Zoom on Monday, July 20, at noon. 

Ken Valenti

^{_{A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.}}