Valley News – Enfield Zoning Board approves variances for 300-unit development

ENFIELD — The Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved two variances needed for a roughly 300-unit housing project to move forward. Officials say it’s the largest housing development project ever proposed for the city.

The project, which will include apartment buildings and homes, will be built on about 77 acres of land — known as Laramie Farms — that borders Route 4 and Maple Street in downtown Enfield.

At a meeting Tuesday night, the Zoning Board approved both options by 4-1 votes, with member Dan Regan the only opponent both times.

The first option allows developers to build more than one building per primary lot, as there will be multiple buildings contained on two separate parcels. The second option allows developers to build buildings that are roughly twice as tall as Enfield’s current height limit of 35 feet.

The proposal calls for more than 200 apartments in buildings that would be about 73 feet tall, with the rest of the units in townhouses that would be about 44 feet tall.

“I don’t think it’s really going to affect the character of their neighborhood,” Zoning Board Chairman Mike Diehn said during the meeting.

It was the third meeting the Zoning Board has held regarding variances requested by the developers, including landowner John Dibitteto and his development partner Stephen Doherty of DC Development and Construction.

During the first two meetings — in March and April — the public had a chance to weigh in, but at Tuesday night’s meeting, the board did not accept public comments, which drew objections from some in attendance. More than a dozen people participated in person at the city’s Public Works building and through MicrosoftTeams.

Diehn said Tuesday night’s meeting is focused on the board deliberating. At one point, he interrupted the meeting for about 10 minutes after verbally questioning Maple Street resident Dave Beaufait, who tried to intervene during the council’s deliberations.

The animosity continued after the board voted.

“We assumed that since they hadn’t voted yet, we would be able to have input,” Linda Jones, a direct part of the project who lives on Route 4, said in a phone interview Wednesday. She said she was out of town for a previous meeting and had trouble streaming online. “I was very surprised that it was planned in advance to have no public input.”

Most of those who spoke at the first two hearings opposed the proposed development, citing its height, number of units and concerns about increased traffic on Route 4. Opponents said the project’s size was out of scope and contrary to the rural aspect of the city.

Regan reiterated some of those concerns as the board deliberated, which followed an hour-long executive session in which they met with Enfield attorney Michael Courtney of Upton and Hatfield LLC.

The council then spent more than an hour publicly debating both options and voted on each separately.

“I think people on Maple Street would say it changes the essential character of the neighborhood,” Regan said.

Regan also disagreed with other board members who said that because the development could be treated as its own neighborhood and not part of Maple Street, where developers have proposed an emergency access road that it could also double as a trail for those who live at Laramie Farms. .

Zoning Board member Bill Finger acknowledged that Maple Street residents could see the buildings from their properties.

“We can’t block any development because someone … might see it,” he said of the legal limits on the council’s authority.

The buildings would sit atop a ridge on the Laramie Farms property, according to plans provided by the developers. In recent months, developers have adjusted plans to put several taller buildings underground — where parking will be located — to better align with the existing tree line seen from Maple Street.

“That’s not the vision I have for Enfield,” Jones, a follower, said Wednesday. “…I think the height will be more noticeable than anyone realizes.”

Jones said she has multiple objections, including an access road that would connect the development to Route 4. As proposed, the road would connect to Route 4 at the crest of a hill and on a curve that does not have good visibility for drivers, she said.

“I think there’s a lot of traffic on Route 4 in a dangerous place,” Jones said.

Jones is a member of the city’s planning board and said he would recuse himself from any future consideration of the proposal.

The developers must go back to the Zoning Board for a “special exception” for the access road that connects to Route 4 because, as proposed, it would cross a wetland, said Rob Taylor, land use manager and community development of Enfield. He noted that the proposal is the largest development the city has considered.

Developers will also need site plan approval from the Planning Board, among other steps they must complete before construction can begin.

Jones said he’s not opposed to the Laramie Farms development, he just doesn’t think the current proposal and the variances it requires are appropriate.

“I think the houses are fine and the apartment blocks are too tall and would fit better in the city if they were lower,” she said.

The Abutters have 30 days from Wednesday to appeal the Zoning Board’s decision, Taylor said. The first step in the appeals process would be to appeal to the Zoning Board itself to ask it to reconsider the decisions, which members could do at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 11.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at [email protected] or 603-727-3221.