Words like “asinine” and “stupefying” are being used.
In Hartford’s West End, the impressive mansions along Scarborough Street exude charm and wealth, some of the estates spreading out over acres, hugging the Park River on one side of the street.
But all is not as serene as it might at first appear on the tree-lined boulevard.
A proposal to build nearly 70 apartments overlooking the river at Scarborough’s northern end near Route 44 is roiling nearby homeowners who worry that the development will worsen existing flooding from the north branch of the river and is too large and out of keeping with the street’s character.
“Forget about how asinine this development is in the first place that sticks 68 units on a 3-acre parcel on a single-family street,” David Jorgensen, a resident whose backyard borders the river, said. “But from a flooding perspective, it’s absolutely going to make it worse.”
Jorgensen, a senior portfolio manager at a wealth management firm, said he and his family have lived on Scarborough alongside the Park River since 2017, downstream from the proposed apartments.
In that time, Jorgensen estimates, he has lost as much as 10 feet of his backyard as the river overflows its banks — at least a half dozen times a year — eroding the outer back boundary of his property. Trees that were once solidly in his yard are now teetering on the riverbank.
When the river does flood, it is not unusual for the waters to climb 100 or more feet towards his house, Jorgensen said.
The dispute comes at a sensitive time when memories of last year’s flooding in the Naugatuck Valley are still fresh. Torrential rains dumped more than 16 inches in just a few hours, turning a tiny waterway into a deadly raging river that severely damaged homes and businesses.
Earlier this year, Gov. Ned Lamont called for reducing development in areas prone to flooding. Scientists are attributing more frequent and intense storms to climate change.
The worries also are a contrast for Hartford, where most images of flooding in the city are of more densely-populated, far more modest-income neighborhoods.
‘Cars would be in the drink’
In Hartford’s West End, the proposed apartment development would be built on the site of the long-shuttered Hartford Medical Society on the Park River. The property was purchased for $425,000 by the developer, Anisha LLC, whose principal is Matthew Dean Haubrich of West Hartford.
The plan still requires the approval of the Greater Hartford Flood Commission. But last fall, the proposal was backed by an administrative planning approval from city development staff and Hartford’s Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission. The latter approval is being challenged in court by neighbor Marilda L.Gandara, a former Aetna executive and a member of the University of Connecticut board of trustees. The lawsuit is pending.
Hartford Inland Wetlands Chairwoman Josye Utick declined to comment, citing the on-going litigation.
Andrea L. Gomes, an attorney for Anisha and a partner at Hinckley Allen in downtown Hartford, said the developer recognizes “that flooding is an existing issue in the area, although not attributable to our property, and the proposed redevelopment will improve flooding conditions on and off-site, as confirmed by city staff.”
In an email, Gomes said the proposed development will provide a robust storm water management system where none currently exists, improve water quality and reduce storm water runoff and increase penetration into the soil. In addition, a system will be constructed to store flood waters beyond what is required by the flood commission, according to the email.
The project “will take a long-vacant, underutilized property and put it to a productive use that addresses the statewide (nationwide) housing shortage,” Gomes wrote in the email. “It is a win-win in many respects.”
Gomes added, “Anisha is proud of its plans for the site, and proud to be part of the solution to reducing flooding in and near the Park River.”
Anisha declined to comment on the development cost for the project, according to Gomes.
The flood commission is expected to decide on the proposal in mid-August, and its chairman said he still is considering how he will vote on the project. The commission has been reviewing the matter since the beginning of the year.
Chairman Michael T. McGarry, the former city councilman and current Republican registrar of voters, said he well remembers the river overflowing a decade ago on the campus of nearby University of Hartford, submerging and damaging motor vehicles.
One issue McGarry said he is focusing on is how the installation of flood control measures by Anisha could change the nature of the riverbank and the trees whose roots now stabilize it. The development proposal includes a parking lot for for 136 vehicles.
“I can certainly be concerned that if a big storm comes, that the bank would not survive and those cars would be in the drink,” McGarry said.
The neighbors remain highly skeptical of the developer’s assurances that incidents and intensity of flooding will improve with the development.
“I just don’t buy it,” Jorgensen said, noting the neighbors have hired their own engineer to challenge the developer’s assertions.
Jorgensen said the typical 2-foot height of the river along Scarborough can double, triple or even quadruple in a heavy, sudden rainstorm.
Looking at the Anisha proposal in isolation ignores that it’s part of a broader pattern of development affecting the Park River, Jorgensen said.
Just to the north, more than 400 mixed-income rentals are under construction at the Village at Park River, with plans including 80,000 square feet of office and retail space, Jorgensen said. The watershed that flows into the Park River extends well beyond the neighborhood to encompass three towns, all active with development, apartments and otherwise, Jorgensen said.
“So you have basically three towns worth of watershed and development pouring into this one little funnel we have behind our houses and behind our street,” Jorgensen said.
‘Project is stupefying’
As proposed, the apartment development meets the current zoning for the 3-acre, former medical society property. But prior to an overhaul of zoning regulations in 2016 under the administration of former Mayor Luke Bronin, the property was zoned for single-family residential use. The medical society building dates back to the mid-1950s and would be demolished.
Neighbors say the issue of flooding goes hand-in-hand with their argument the property is being overdeveloped.
“The density of this project is stupefying,” Michael A. Peck, a lawyer who lives next door to medical society property, said. “In terms of 68 units, 136 cars, the whole street is, I think, 23 houses.”
Scarborough already is congested during morning and afternoon rush hours because it intersects with Route 44, or Albany Avenue, Peck said. Albany Avenue a heavily-traveled commuter route between downtown Hartford and the suburbs to the west.
“It’s already a bottleneck at those times,” Peck said. “This is all locked up.”
The neighbors are drawing high-profile support from Hartford City Council President Shirley M. Surgeon, who is often caught in that traffic taking her grandson to school.
“There’s zoning laws that we have to follow,” Surgeon said. “But one of the things also is I think they should also take into consideration is what the community has to say. You ask us to be involved in the community. Give the community some input also.”
In a statement, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said he has been in regular contact with the residents of Scarborough Street and will remain so as the project progresses.
“Any formal proposal for the Scarborough site, like other development projects, will undergo a rigorous evaluation, including comprehensive assessments by city staff and other review channels, like the Greater Hartford Flood Commission, prior to any construction,” Arulampalam said.
Arulampalam declined further comment.
Jorgensen said there are plenty of properties in the city that need to be redeveloped and maybe there could be a land swap.
“There’s got to be a way to work this out, but to just jam this down our throats, it’s just not right,” Jorgensen said. “I’ve said to people, and I’ve said in meetings before, I get that there is not a lot of sympathy for those of us that live on Scarborough Street. But that doesn’t make us any less right or have less rights than anyone else as far as where we’ve chosen to live and why we chose to live here.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.