Old Lyme — The town will soon decide whether it wants to open up its main commercial strip to housing developments, something opponents say could completely change the character of the community.
A public hearing on the proposal to open the Halls Road district to housing and more commercial operations begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lyme-Old Lyme High School.
Supporters say the proposed Halls Road Overlay District is key to the town’s continued vitality. Opponents say it would allow dense housing projects in a town where the majority of residents live in single-family homes.
The town has received dozens of letters on both sides of the issue while two petitions, one of which contains almost 1,000 signatures, state the overlay zone isn’t right for the community. Red and blue signs declaring Overlay — No Way” have appeared throughout town and along Halls Road.
The proposed overlay stretches from Lyme Street to Route 156.
The Halls Road committee first met in 2015 to discuss how to improve aesthetics and pedestrian traffic in the commercial district. The declining value of strip malls, two of which exist now on the road, and the growing need for housing that seniors and young families can afford played a major role in the discussions.
Halls Road Improvements Committee Chair Edie Twining said adding housing here, both affordable and market-rate, is one of the plan’s goals as well as preserving the commercial center in town.
“The aim is to create, over time, an inviting pedestrian-friendly shopping street in a living, mixed-use neighborhood along Halls Road,” according to the plan.
Land Use Coordinator Eric Knapp said this is the first time an overlay zone has been attempted in Old Lyme. Other towns, like Groton, have had overlays since the 1980s, said Groton’s planning director, Jon Reiner.
Groton has a Water Resource Protection District, an overlay within an industrial zone, said Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Assistant Director Deb Jones. Parcels in the protection district must obey different rules for paved surfaces and stormwater runoff than others within the industrial zone. It’s massive, Jones said, and includes most of the watershed draining into the town’s reservoir, covering many of the town’s commercial areas from Route 12 to the Stonington town line.
Knapp said the Old Lyme overlay zone proposal aims to support mixed-use developments by requiring retailers to be on the first floor and housing on any floors above.
“The main concern seems to be about density,” Knapp said, “that if we adopt this regulation, and density in that part of Old Lyme grows, it will change the character of Old Lyme.”
Julie and Ron Malloy, in a letter to the editor, wrote in a recent letter to the editor that the overlay could lead to an “urban wall of large, high-density housing buildings and parking garages along Halls Road.”
And there are other concerns. Resident Susan Paisley has said in the era of online shopping, new storefronts would remain vacant. Resident Michelle Archer said the plan does not separate businesses that sell alcohol, which could result in more drunken driving and increase the police budget.
“Let us be vigilant in preserving what makes living in our town so desirable and special,” Archer wrote.
An opposing petition submitted by resident Sloan Danenhower last month was signed by owners of at least 20 percent of the affected property or property within 500 feet of the proposed zone change. That means that four of the commission’s five members must vote in favor of the overlay zone for it to be approved.
What is an overlay zone?
State law defines an overlay zone as “a zoning district which is applied over one or more previously established zoning districts, establishing additional or stricter standards and criteria for covered properties in addition to those of the underlying district.”
Communities use overlay zones to protect “special features” like historic buildings, wetlands and waterfronts, and to “promote specific development projects” like mixed-use developments or affordable housing, according to the state law. Overlays can be justified as contributing to the health, safety and welfare of a community or population.
Basically, they’re a tool for towns to address issues to a specific area within a zoning area, whether residential, commercial or industrial, Reiner said.
“We also have a small overlay zone near the Navy base,” Jones said of Groton’s zoning regulation. Buildings in that overlay zone must be shorter than those in the underlying zone.
“That’s about the security of the sub base,” she said.
Knapp, Reiner and Jones said overlay zones are not so-called “spot zoning.”
Knapp said that’s when a zone change targets a specific parcel in a zone and treats it differently, like allowing commercial development on a single piece of land in a residential zone.
“Because the new regulation applies to the entire zone, it’s not spot zoning,” Knapp said of the Halls Road overlay.
Helen Zincavage, director of regional planning for the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, said no matter what problems an overlay attempts to remediate or development it wants to encourage, existing town regulations and plans of conservation and development take priority.
Overlay zones should benefit the overall direction of a town, she said, not a single property or interest.
“It’s a tool that gives communities a little more flexibility when they want to address something specific” without having to make changes that must apply townwide, Zincavage said.
“As long as it’s backed up in the POCD,” she said, referring to a community’s plan of conservation and development.
Development hurdles
First Selectman Martha Shoemaker stressed at a meeting last month that the overlay zone does not automatically approve any specific development.
The Halls Road Improvements Committee says the district would incentivize property owners to develop retail and commercial businesses directly on Halls Road in return for the ability to develop multifamily residential uses. Currently such uses are several hundred feet from the road.
The plan would require 10% of any housing units to be affordable and has a limit of 40 units per acre. It would also allow sidewalks to be installed, at the Zoning Commission’s discretion, and permits parking garages if they are part of another building. If the garage is a standalone structure, it must be at least 120 feet from the road with steps taken to reduce its visibility.
Less than half of a lot, 40%, can be covered by buildings and structures.
The existing regulations, which forbid housing development, would still apply and could still be used, Knapp said. Owners would have the choice to use the new overlay rules or the current ones.
The proposed regulation calls for the creation of a three-member Halls Road Overlay District Design Review Committee, which would review plans for “any structure to be constructed, reconstructed, or exteriorly renovated or substantially changed in the district.”
Developments would then need special permit approval to use the overlay zone from the Zoning Commission.
Editor’s note: This version corrects the author of the quote that the overlay could lead to an “urban wall of large, high-density housing buildings and parking garages along Halls Road and the number of property owners required to sign Danenhower’s petition.