After two public hearings, the Planning & Zoning Comission (PZC) voted to approve amending the zoning code to eliminate the requirement for senior housing in the MUC/2 zone district, a move hoped to help spur economic development on the west end of town. The motion passed 6-2.

The decision to eliminate the requirement was brought to the table over a previously approved condominium complex set to be built across the street from the Guilford Commons shopping center. The project, known as Guilford Village West, has been in the works for more than 10 years and proposes 115 condo units.

Centerplan Construction, which is in charge of the project, recently requested that the provision for age restriction in the development be removed due to the current economy and demands in the market. The previous restriction would have limited residents to those 55 and older.

Stanley Gniazdowski of Guilford-based Realty Concepts said there is currently a greater demand for market-rate housing.

“Lifestyle has changed and lifestyle impacts demand,” he said. “The demand is not as strong for age-restricted housing as it is for market-rate housing. By the end of this decade, the millennial generation will comprise about 36 percent of the population.”

The provision for age-restricted housing was put in place nearly 15 years ago by the Economic Development Commission, according to Town Planner George Kral. Age-restricted developments gained favor as a way support housing options for seniors while side-stepping the tax burden created by households with school-aged children (Guilford currently spends more than $16,000 per pupil annually; by comparison, a home with a market value of $500,000 generates $9,884 in tax revenues).

Kral said the commission has reconsidered its position.

“The Economic Development Commission is now recommending in favor of this change, so obviously the commission no longer believes the restriction is no longer necessary,” he said.

Kral said there are also many logistical issues involved with trying to enforce age-restricted housing.

“We have no experience with moderating it or regulating it,” he said. “I do know from our perspective as administrators and regulators it is not something we would really want to do. We don’t want to be checking people as they moved into a unit to see how old they are.”

Units in the proposed complex would be priced from $390,000 to $500,000; the complex is estimated to bring $400,000 in tax revenue, according to Gniazdowski.

While some commissioners expressed concerns over how many school-aged children the development might bring in, a majority of commissioners believed the project could only help Guilford.

“If anything, it will increase the tax base,” said commissioner Ray Bowers.

Newly appointed PZC Chair Tom Cost said he, too, was in favor of the project and removing the requirement for senior housing.

“I am in favor of this,” he said. “This is an approved project. There is nothing I can see about the actual physical product that is going to change.”