The West Hartford Town Council held a nearly four-hour hearing Tuesday night on an application by Vessel Technologies for a zone change to allow for the development of multifamily housing at 29 Highland Street.

By Ronni Newton

The West Hartford Town Council spent nearly four hours on Tuesday, Feb. 25 listening to the developer’s presentation and public comment on an application by Vessel Technologies to rezone the 2.33-acre parcel at 29 Highland Street and create a Special Development District overlay to allow for the redevelopment of 112 units of multifamily housing, but after a lengthy recess and consideration of other matters, the hearing was continued to March 11, 2025 at 6:45 p.m., after which the Council intends to vote on the application.

Just before midnight, Deputy Mayor Ben Wenograd made the motion, which was seconded and approved, to continue the hearing “for the limited purpose of presenting an updated plan set to reflect reconfiguration of several units.”

Corporation Counsel Dallas Dodge said the plans needed to accurately reflect what the applicant intends to build, and during the hearing Vessel Technologies Executive Vice President Josh Levy verbally agreed to comply with a request, made by Council member Tiffani McGinnis, to provide another two-bedroom unit that would qualify as affordable housing. In order to do that, two of the one-bedroom units need to be combined and that change must be reflected on the plans submitted to the Town Council.

Currently 29 Highland Street is zoned RI (residential institutional, single family), but the property abuts other properties that are in the RM-1 (residential multifamily) zone. Vessel’s plans to purchase the property are contingent on the zoning change.

Vessel’s application indicates plans to replace the existing Hughes Health & Rehabilitation buildings on the site with multifamily housing that will qualify under Connecticut General Statutes Section 8-30g, which requires that 30% of the units must be affordable – and at least 15% of those must be affordable for those with an income of 60% or less than the area median income (AMI).

The 8-30g statute has been in place for several decades, but has rarely been used in West Hartford so prior to the start of the public hearing Deputy Corporation Counsel Gina Varano explained the statute, which allows developers to override local zoning ordinances if the municipality does not already have 10% of its housing qualified as affordable, and if the project provides the requisite mix of affordable units. According to Town Manager Rick Ledwith, West Hartford’s affordable housing percentage is currently between 7.4% and 7.65%.

The proposal being considered calls for 34 of the 112 units be be designated affordable. She said that unlike other requests for rezoning, the application cannot be denied because it does not conform to the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), or based on concerns “related to density, size, height, design, or compatibility with surrounding properties.” It cannot be denied because it is not in harmony with the character of community, or due to potential impacts on traffic congestion, Varano said.

The Town Council can only deny the application if it’s “necessary to protect public interest in health and safety.” she said, and if those reasons clearly outweigh the need for affordable housing and the public interest cannot be protected without meaningful amendments.

The use of a Special Development District overlay does allow the Town Council to require reasonable conditions of the applicant, and the application has been reviewed through the same process as any SDD application.

The original submitted application was for one, four-story building with at total of 112 apartments, but following six study sessions conducted with the town’s Design Review Advisory Committee (DRAC), the final application reviewed Tuesday night was for two identical four-story buildings. The total unit count remained the same, however, with each building included 56 units – of which 53 are one-bedroom and three are two-bedroom.

While there will be some modification based on adding another two-bedroom unit, the plan under discussion Tuesday was for 32 of the one-bedroom units to be rented for $1,319 to $1,583 per month, and two of the two-bedroom units to be rented for $1,644 to $1,985 per month, in accordance with 8-30g provisions. The income/rent restriction is for 40 years, and the rental rates change based on the HUD requirements, said the developer’s attorney, Robin Pearson of Glastonbury-based Alter, Pearson & Hope.

Although not required due to the 8-30g statute, Pearson said the application meets POCD goals of innovation, equity, connectivity, sustainability.

The Town Plan & Zoning Commission (TPZ) unanimously voted (5-0) to recommend the project at its Jan. 6, 2025 meeting. The approval letter stated that TPZ found the project consistent with the overall vision of the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), and specifically cited the Neighborhoods and Housing section goal to: “Enhance and maintain West Hartford’s existing neighborhoods and encourage diversity of housing types and costs to provide access and availability of housing options to current and future residents.”

The Design Review Advisory Committee (DRAC), which also officially reviewed the application as a referral from the Town Council following a series of study sessions that began in the summer of 2024, voted unanimously (5-0) at its Feb. 13 meeting against recommendation of the application. DRAC’s letter to the Town Council noted that the application was “inconsistent with our Committee’s Performance Criteria,” specifically noting that with respect to the relationship of the buildings and site to the area, the “overall mass and height of the combined buildings is large and out of context with the adjoining neighborhood.”

Although representatives of Vessel had provided DRAC with multiple color scheme options in response to suggestions at the study sessions, and had changed the initial plan for one large building to two smaller structures, the Committee stated that the “building’s design, unarticulated façades, stark white coloring and blank northernmost and southernmost facades are not compatible with the neighborhood.” DRAC did state in its letter to the Council appreciation for the applicant’s “active participation in the design review process, including multiple review sessions; its discussion of and exploration of some design alternatives; and its ultimate consideration and inclusion of a meaningful and positive change in the building massing from one volume into two.”

While DRAC’s review is important, the body is advisory only and the decision is not binding on the Town Council.

The plan also includes 123 parking spaces, which is in compliance with the town and state requirements for parking that would require 118 parking spaces.

Vessel, based in New York, is known for constructing their properties quickly and with minimal disruption, using pre-fabricated parts, and notes that the development will be estimated to take six months. The properties utilize solar power and are fully electric, and all units are produced with non-combustible materials and are fully sprinklered. Other sustainability measures are designed to reduce environmental impact and keep costs down for residents.

All surfaces are hypoallergenic and anti-microbial, Levy said.

Levy, who had been involved in development of multifamily housing prior to the launch of Vessel, said the company’s goal was to “change the paradigm” by creating “attainable” housing designed to appeal to young teachers, first responders, recent college graduates and others who often end up in Class C housing in the communities they serve due to affordability.

Vessel stated in their application material that the company’s goal is to “increase the range of housing options for people of all income and ages, providing a high quality, healthy, safe, sustainable home for people and moderate-income levels and promotes fair housing through the creation of housing opportunities.”

While Levy did not provide a market rate rental cots estimate for the majority of the units that would fall into the “attainable” rather than the “affordable” category, he did say that “we would expect that looking at the other newly-constructed buildings [in West Hartford], we would come in significantly below.”

Levy said that because the units are constructed from modular components, the construction process is quiet – and there are no idling trucks, no hammering, and it’s a waste-free site. The entire building can be delivered with a handful of trucks, he said, creating much less traffic in the process – estimated to take six to nine months.

More than a dozen letters were submitted as testimony to the public hearing, many from residents who live nearby, asking questions and expressing concerns about the size of the development, and also asking questions about parking, screening, and traffic. Seven of the letters opposed the Vessel project, while six supported it.

A dozen speakers – some of who had also previously submitted written comments – addressed the Council at Tuesday’s public hearing.

George and Linda Fazzina, who live on Highland Street, said there are already traffic issues on the street, and this development would be across the street from Bristow Middle School.

“I’m concerned about the school kids going to and fro,” George Fazzina said.

“You haven’t added a single car to the street and there are already issues with traffic on the street,” Linda Fazzina said, expressing concerns regarding pedestrians and the street becoming impassible as is often the case on Concord Street – one street to the west – which has become exceedingly crowded with vehicles parked on both sides of the street, including overnight.

Ryan Schaefer and Elizabeth Leo’s home on Concord Street backs up to the property. Among the issues that Schaefer said concern him,“first and foremost is the lack of DRAC approval.” He said the application does not meet aesthetic standards, and the building is too high and wide for the lot. “It’s too much to jam into a really small space.”

Schaefer also said that having an apartment building on that site creates “significant personal safety risk for our own backyard,” and will reduce the privacy at their pool.

A 6-foot-high stockade fence is included in the plans, which provides more screening at ground level than the current fence that has been referred to as “dilapidated,” but Schaefer is concerned about residents who live on the upper floors.

“Rodents are a real problem,” stated Susan Kennedy, who lives in the Copper Beach Condominium complex directly south of the proposed Vessel building on Highland Street.

Josh Goldfinger, also a Copper Beach resident, echoed the concerns of others and noted that “it’s extremely distressing that the state law does not balance” what are concerns of the neighbors. Goldfinger also said the size of the apartments – 530 square feet for a one-bedroom – plus having natural light only in the bedrooms, makes them more like hotel rooms. “I’m very concerned that the applicant’s business plan may include short-term rentals,” he said, or long-term stay units, a transient operation which would not be desirable for the neighborhood.

“Traffic is not a qualifying reason to deny under 8-30g, but traffic is a safety concern,” said Jaimie Kennedy, who also expressed concern about the release of contaminants during the demolition of the existing structure.

Yvette Yelardy expressed concerns about traffic, and about delivery vehicles blocking making the roadway inaccessible to traffic on Highland as they do on Concord, where she lives.

Kevin Ryan from the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee said he wished the project would provide a good alternative with appropriate housing for the “missing middle” – older adults to who are ready to downsize and want to stay in the community, and are “comfortable, but not the Rockefellers.” One-bedroom units can’t accommodate the older adults who need to have live-in assistance, Ryan said.

Kevin Greene urged the Town Council to follow DRAC’s lead and deny the application for suitability reasons. He said that just because the area already has multifamily residences – which he said create problems with garbage and noise – “that doesn’t mean we should have more of them.” He said the area is walkable, but he is concerned with pedestrian safety related to Bristow and questions the legitimacy of the traffic studies which indicate negligible additional traffic.

Concord Street resident Jen Prigodich said that since Hughes has been vacant, the number of rat burrows in her yard has gone from 30 to none and she is concerned that the rats will return once the new development is built. She also anticipates that couples will rent many of the one-bedroom units, and that will add to traffic and parking concerns.

Kevin Solli, of Solli Engineering, said the trip generation rates are based on “industry tried and trusted” data.

Pearson addressed some of the other speakers’ concerns, stating: “This is not intended to be a long-term stay hotel. This is a rental facility.” She noted that demolition – which would be necessary for anything new being built on the property – is subject to permitting by the town.

Hughes Health & Rehabilitation operated a nursing home at 29 Highland Street for more than 50 years, but filed an application to close the facility in March 2023, citing “declining census as well as staffing needs and excessive cost increases.” The request to close was granted by the state’s Department of Social Services in May 2023, and the nursing home residents were relocated and the property has been vacant since mid-2023.