NORTH HAVEN

On Aug. 5, the North Haven Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) approved an amendment to zoning regulations, intending for sites to be subjected to new planning requirements which are more respectful toward residential neighbors.

The PZC approved modifications to zoning regulation 2.1.1.5, amending it so that schools and colleges operated by a governmental unit or non-profit corporation in the town’s residential zoning districts must sit on a site of at least 10 acres, thereby carving out some distance between a fully outfitted building intended for education and/or supporting services and the properties owned by residents in a surrounding area.

The amendment received universal support from those who spoke during a public hearing on the issue.

An unused church property at 5100 and 5110 Ridge Road was at the center of the amendment and was brought forth in consideration of past education developments which were formerly rejected by the PZC, as well as future developments which may take form at the site.

The site was previously considered to be a location for Slate School to construct its upper school for grades 7-12, but that was rejected by the PZC in September 2021, after which a new spot was found on the school’s Mansfield Drive campus. Nearby residents to the original site for the upper school were opposed to the development there, believing that the property would have generated excessive safety issues against residents, specifically at the site.

The next possible development up for consideration at 5100 and 5110 Ridge Road is an adult-oriented education center to be potentially built by Quinnipiac University. The development has been floated in the past on previous PZC agendas and was on the agenda at the Aug. 5 meeting before being withdrawn.

Attorney John Parese represented the applicants in the mission to amend residential zoning language. Parese stressed to the PZC that the amendment was “not targeting” Quinnipiac, but added that he did “have them in mind.” Speaking broadly, Parese stated that in any residential zone in North Haven, “irrespective of who wants to build a school…any school at any level to operate efficiently, a physical plant must have a minimum land area, a critical mass, if you will.”

According to Parese, this requirement should start at least 10 acres, a figure he cited from the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services. Parese specified that among that acreage, “five of which must be buildable, meaning no ledge or wetlands or watercourses.”

Parese said that requiring minimum acreage for a site is not unprecedented according to North Haven’s zoning regulations, citing a subsection in the 2.1.1.5 regulation which states that a country club or golf course must be 50 acres. Parese also cited buffer zones, distance requirements, and interior must-haves for the Animal Haven shelter as additional precedent and the kinds he would personally like to see with education buildings as part of the amendment.

Specific regulations for types of developments would ensure that there be an appropriate zoning configuration between schools and residential properties, and those schools could further ensure they possesses the necessary means “to safely operate the school facility in a residential zone,” said Parese.

“My amendment is intended to make it clear that for any would-be developer of a school, the site must be adequate to contain the myriad components that are necessary to safely operate the school facility in a residential zone,” he said. “That includes placement of buildings that are a respectful distance to neighbors, that includes placement of parking facilities at a respectful distance, that includes safe and efficient flow, and that includes adequate site access for emergency services.”

Parese informed the PZC that neither North Haven’s police and fire departments nor the South Central Regional Council of Governments had negative comments on the amendment change.

No negative comments were heard during the public hearing portion of the meeting. Resident Mary White feels that 10 acres is an appropriate scale which would support protection of “the character of residential zones.” White believes that overdevelopment, which could include homes and a school being too clustered within inconsiderate space, is a negative possibility which could occur without having an amendment to carve out specific space for schools in a residential zone.

“This amendment will protect schools from being overbuilt on undersized residential parcels in residential zones,” said White. “It will protect the character of residential zones and thus ensure school development projects are in harmony with residential neighborhoods.”

Some residents, such as Lana Claire Ives, feel that 10 acres or less is too small and believe that a greater amount of acres is more of a fitting lot size for space between residents and a school.

“To have a school on less than 10 acres is pretty ridiculous, in my opinion,” said Ives. “I would go further, and I would’ve said 25 acres.”

Other residents feel that having a school too close to residential properties would yield disruptions such as noise and light pollution, specifically in regard to the education center floated by Quinnipiac.

Marilyn Calderon, a graduate of the university, told the PZC, that while she believes “in their mission…they don’t need to buy anymore of our privatized neighborhoods to make that accessible to more students” with the proposed education center, especially when there are already disturbances such as speeding and littering which she said they deal with regularly.

“I think when it comes to the essence of what we all stand for, having a privatized neighborhood protected, by the goodwill of all of us, I would really appreciate it if you would definitely not consider this going through,” she said.