WINDSOR
No one spoke at a public hearing during the Windsor Town Council’s October meeting regarding a developer’s proposal to construct three 861-square-foot detached apartments on a Bank Street lot measuring 0.53 acres.

The developer, Cullen Group LLC of 57 E. Windsor Blvd., had requested a rezoning of the lot from R1 residential to conditional high density residential after the town’s planning and zoning staff found that the proposed housing density would amount to 5.6 units per acre — just over the by-right permitted density of five units per acre for HDR zoning — which is why the matter needed to come before the town’s Planning Commission and Town Council. During its September meeting, the Planning Commission voted to recommend that the council deny the request for rezoning. Town Manager Michael Stallings said the reason the commission had voted to recommend denial was not as much to due with the proposed housing density as it was the amount of the lot that would be covered.

When it came time for the members of council to discuss the matter, Councilman Walter Bernacki said that when he had visited several residents neighboring the property in question, many had expressed opposition to the proposed apartments. He added that he thought the close proximity of the units to each other could pose a fire control problem.

However, Mayor Carita Richardson and Vice Mayor Durwood Scott both said they felt the town needed more affordable rental units.

The units, if built, would each contain two bedrooms and one bathroom, with rent ranging from $800 to just under $1,000 per month.

The council ultimately voted to table the matter and to give the developer the opportunity to speak to the Planning Commission’s and Town Council’s concerns. This way, another public hearing will not need to be held, but any residents wishing to speak on the issue could do so during citizens’ time at the beginning of the next council meeting.