Two Proposed Zone Changes Tabled Amid Owner Objections, Others Approved With Opposition

The owners of two properties subject to proposed zone changes objected to the changes, with one saying he did not receive a response from Ald. Robert Smedley (R-4), the Republicans’ Council leader, when he called to discuss the matter. The Council voted unanimously to table those two items, but approved three others, against the objections of several Council members.

In its last meeting, this past Wednesday, the outgoing New Britain City Council considered another series of land use zone and zoning ordinance changes. The changes add to a raft of zoning changes already approved by the Republican-controlled Council in June and September of 2023.

A new Council will be elected in the November 7, 2023 city elections.

The three zone changes approved by the Council included a rezone of an area along the corner of East Street and Newington Avenue, down to Rhodes Street, from the T zone they are presently in to a TODEM1 Transit Oriented Development – East Main zone. Another changed an area at the corner of North and Stanley streets from a B-1 secondary business to a B-3 neighborhood mixed use zone, and a third changed an area between Ellis and Bingham streets from a B1 secondary business zone to a B-1R “neighborhood business revitalization” zone.

Ald. Aram Ayalon (D-3), the Democrats’ Council leader, objected to all three proposals, saying that the zone changes should not be approved at the last meeting of the outgoing Council. He said they should be deferred to the newly elected Council.

Ald. Ayalon made motions to table all three items, but the majority in the Republican-controlled Council voted those motions down. The Council majority then approved all three of those changes, with Ald. Luz Ortiz-Luna (R-AL) and Ald Iris Sanchez (D-3) joining Ayalon in opposing them. Ald. Paul Catanzaro (R-5) also voted to oppose the Newington Avenue change.

One of the two items unanimously tabled by the Council would have rezoned a single lot on Osgood Avenue of retail-designed space from a B-1 secondary business zone to T zoning. T zoning allows two and three family houses. The change would extend the existing T zone that includes the existing Cidermill Court.

At the Council committee meeting the previous evening, the owners of the property, including Julia Diaz and Christian Puente, said that the only communication they received from the city about the proposal was a letter. They called it unprofessional. They said that the property is presently, temporarily, occupied by a church, but that they had owned it as commercial property for 35 years.

Another proposal that was tabled by the Council would have rezoned a single property at the corner of Burritt and Miller streets from a B1 secondary business zone to an A-2 apartment zoning. The building is presently zoned differently than the surrounding A-2 zoning.

The owner of the only property subject to the change, Bob Leach, expressed disappointment that Ald. Smedley, who introduced the change, did not call him back. He said he has been paying higher taxes because the property is zoned for commercial use and was concerned that the zone change would harm his ability to use it commercially in the future.

Both of those two items were tabled.

While a motion to table technically does not defeat a proposal, only delaying it for possible future action, in New Britain’s Council, the list of items left tabled by a Council disappears at the end of its term of office. So the items were effectively defeated, but could theoretically be taken up again by the newly elected Council.

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