In a 4 to 1 vote, West Hartford’s Town Plan and Zoning Commission approved the wetlands application for 1800 Asylum Avenue. 

By Bridget Bronsdon 

In continuation of its July 17 hearing, West Hartford’s Town Plan and Zoning Commission (TPZ), in its capacity as the town’s Inlands Wetlands and Watercourses Agency (IWWA), resolved final questions and concerns on Monday evening before voting 4-1 to approve a wetlands application for the former UConn property at 1800 Asylum Avenue.

While this decision paves the way for the next phase of consideration of the project, it is not an approval of rezoning or an expected request for creation of a Special Development District that will be part of the full application for the project – which following submission will be referred for formal review to TPZ and the Design Review Advisory Committee (DRAC), and then considered during a public hearing before being voted on by the Town Council.

Prior to the commission’s decision Monday night, Attorney Robin Pearson, of Alter & Pearson, LLC answered questions and briefly reiterated the information discussed at the July 17 presentation regarding the site’s existing wetland areas, upland review areas, project phases, and disturbances to the property. 

Construction phasing plans presented for the Town Planning and Zoning Commission regarding 1800 Asylum Avenue. August 5, 2024. Photo credit: Bridget Bronsdon

As for the planned changes to the wetlands on the site, Pearson says they are minimal. “They are all minor changes in the context of the overall benefits that are being brought to this site as a result of the very comprehensive enhancement, creation, and mitigation program that’s proposed,” she said. 

Among the incoming changes are an improved stormwater management system. The site currently lacks a treatment system and with the proposed improvements, the water leaving the site will be of much cleaner quality. 

Pearson also said there will be no impact on flooding and they are pleased with the proposed extension of the Trout Brook Trail. 

Site Design Framework for 1800 Asylum Avenue. Courtesy of Weha Development Group / West Hartford 1 LLC

After exhausting their questions regarding phasing and wetland technicalities, the commission came to a decision, and just moments before voting, several board members voiced their opinions. 

Board Member Andrea Gomes stated her approval. “As complicated as this application was, certainly it’s a large parcel of land, a lot of moving pieces here, I go back to adverse effects to the wetlands and I’m not seeing any adverse effects to the wetlands,” she said. “What I did see was an overall improvement to existing conditions, we have significant remediation happening on site, improvement mitigation, creation of additional wetland areas, and I think overall it is a net positive in looking at impacts to the regulated area.” 

Board member Joshua Kaplan echoed Gomes’ statements and said the wetland mitigation, buffer areas, and enhancements “far outweigh the rather minimal impacts the wetlands, notwithstanding the size and scope of this development but that’s not really what we’re looking at here today.” 

Despite their support, the board wasn’t unanimous in approval. Elizabeth Gillette voiced her concerns for several elements of the property.  

“If you walk the property and you saw all along the wetland fence the delineation, particularly behind the law building, you’re up to your knees. That boundary moves, it ebbs and flows which is part of its natural function over the course of the year, over the course of the decade, they move and when you are taking the buffering area for that wetland and paving it, you have ossified the fluctuating nature of the wetland, and that’s what I have a problem with. The impervious material in the upland review area is increasing by 145%. There will be 8.3 acres, acres of primarily park,” she said. “I just feel it is too close, it is too intense, the lines are too unbroken in the upland review area to allow the wetlands to take its natural course and it artificially constrains it so I will be voting no.”

Despite these concerns, Commission Chair Kevin Ahern was in support. 

Ahern said the design takes “considerable consideration of the wetlands resources on the site to the degree, under my review, that there isn’t a significant impact that I can see from the substantial evidence that’s been presented for us and I’ve been through all nine criteria to make sure that’s how I felt.” He continued, “and I cannot find anything that is going to erase that level of significance and so based on the regulations and everything we’ve heard I do not see any other vote for me then yes.” 

The board proceeded to vote, resulting in a 4-1 approval of the application. Gillette voted no.  

1800 Asylum Avenue site plan. Courtesy of Weha Development Group / West Hartford 1 LLC

Weha Development Group LLC, which has held at least 10 informal study sessions with DRAC as they have refined the design plans, is expected to submit the formal application for 1800 Asylum – Heritage Park – for receipt by the Town Council in September. It will then be set for a formal hearing by the Town Council, likely in November.

Plans for 1800 Asylum call for demolition of the remaining buildings from the UConn campus, and construction of 12 buildings of one to four stories, including a total of 211 residential units – reduced from an earlier submission of plans for 247 units on the western side of the development. Residential units include townhomes, apartments, and 90 units of assisted living.

The proposal also includes a 26,488-square-foot organic grocery store, several restaurants, and a destination spa.

The wetlands application for 1800 Asylum was submitted on April 19, 2024, shortly after the Town Council, by an 8-1 vote, approved formation of a special development district and zoning changes allowing the Residences at Heritage Park, with four buildings and a total of 322 units, to be developed on the 1700 Asylum Avenue parcel.

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