In recent days, Westport camethisclose to moving forward on a new affordable housing project.
Just a few yards from the Post Road, its 32 units would have provided apartments for teachers, police officers, firefighters and other town employees.
Estimates are that 242 town employees could qualify, at less than 60% of the area media income (about $82,000, for a family of 2).
Of those, 144 are teachers. The high cost of housing — and long commutes from communities where homes are less expensive — is one reason educators leave the Westport district.
And — because every one of those units would be considered affordable under state guidelines — it would have marked an enormous step forward in Westport’s efforts toward a moratorium from Connecticut’s onerous 8-30g mandate.
But the plan to convert the current hair salon and adjacent multifamily home at 6 Maple Avenue South — just behind the Exxon station — was scuttled right near the end of real estate negotiations. Owner Ken Kronberg (who also owns the gas station) decided not to sell.
6 Maple Avenue South. The Exxon gas station (not shown) is on the right.
Architect Joseph Vallone and Rick Redniss of the civil engineering and land use firm Redniss & Mead had worked on the plan since last fall.
Redniss tells “06880” that, with 4% low-income housing tax credit financing, the 32 units might have yielded 40.5 points — almost 20% of those needed for Westport’s next 8-30g moratorium.
A traditional 8-30g development, with only 10 affordable units, would yield only 23 points.
Vallone and Redniss were all set to move forward with a text amendment, called “Deed Restricted Housing Development.”
But after speaking with several neighbors, Kronberg declined to sell. Those plans are now off the table.
Joe Vallone’s sketch of the proposed 32-unit affordable housing apartment building at 6 Maple Avenue South.
Kronberg — who has owned the property for 36 owned the gas station for 36 years, and 6 Maple Avenue South since May 1 last yea r— tells “06880” tha after hearing from several neighbors, and seeing a sketch of the proposed apartments, “I didn’t want to be the bad guy that created a large commercial look at the top of Maple South.”
He is unsure what comes next for the property. The 3 bedrooms and studio apartment are rented, but the salon has been empty since Juljen moved to Southport.
“In a perfect world, I’d like to fix it up,” he says. “Make it super-nice, maybe like an old-fashioned barber shop, maybe with apartments or a quaint house.”
Redness rues the lost opportunity.”Westport has missed an opportunity to meet the needs and goals outlined in the Plan of Conservation and Development and Affordable Housing Plan,” he wrote on Tuesday to Planning & Zoning director Michelle Perillie.
“A well-known, long-term, local Westport resident with a proven track record in town was preparing to leverage his expertise to help provide true workforce housing. Joe Vallone was days away from our pre-app meeting with the Planning & Zoning Commission when the property owner reneged on selling the property.”
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The Exxon station, Post Road East at the Maple Avenue South corner.
