New Britain Council Committee Recommends Approval of Zone Change for Mount Pleasant Redevelopment

The New Britain City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee has approved a proposed rezoning of the Mount Pleasant area, ahead of the widely expected plan for redevelopment of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

The redevelopment plan that the proposed zone change relates to calls for the demolition of the existing Mount Pleasant neighborhood and replacement with a new development now under consideration.

The proposed zone change presently under consideration would be to,

Amend the Zoning Map to change the A-1 (multifamily, low density) district and A-2 (multifamily houses, moderate density) district bounded by Myrtle Street to the south, Bond Street to the east, Broad Street to the north and 40 Leo Street to the west, to SRD (Special Residential Design) district.

The City Plan Commission had earlier recommended approval of the zone change proposal, saying,

Rezoning this area to SRD is the first step toward redeveloping Mount Pleasant to provide modern housing that meets the needs of its residents. It is also specifically identified as an objective of the Plan of Conservation and Development.

The proposal is to create a combination of townhouse style and garden apartments. The City Plan Commission said that, “Many of the buildings are in poor condition and do not meet current requirements prescribed by CT Department of Housing, the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and HUD guidelines.”

As part of the consideration of the zone change, the Council received a report on the proposed redevelopment that includes a site plans, proposed building renderings and proposed unit replacement numbers. The presentation contained many of the details that had not been made publicly available when the New Britain Progressive reported, in early 2023, on the large redevelopment proposal as leaving many questions about the future of the neighborhood unknown to the public.

In late 2022, the information shared by the New Britain Housing Authority left many questions about what the future might be for Mount Pleasant, such as the number of replacement units on site, the prospects for residents’ return to the newly rebuilt neighborhood, rent levels and the future ownership of the long publicly-owned housing. Since the New Britain Progressive coverage, as of late 2023, the Housing Authority had been making a concerted effort to reach out to residents of the neighborhood on the proposed changes.

The presentation received by Council showed that the proposed redevelopment would significantly change the street configuration in the neighborhood because, the City Plan Commission said, “the site layout creates access challenges and doesn’t contain public spaces that cater to the diverse age groups of the community.”

According to a Council resolution at its February 14, 2024 meeting, the Stanley Black and Decker donated to the city land it has owned on Armistice and Bond streets, adjacent to the existing Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The Housing Authority has previously said that it would use the land to allow the redeveloped Mount Pleasant to have more units on it than the existing neighborhood.

The presentation also showed numbers of apartments proposed under the redevelopment plans.

After the hearing on the zone change proposal on Tuesday, the Council Zoning Committee reported it to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. The proposal would likely be on the agenda of the February 28. 2024 Council meeting, when the Council may give it final approval.