Marcia Chambers Photo
A group of Democratic Representative Town Meeting (RTM) members rose as one at this month’s RTM meeting to denounce the make-up, legality and the reach of a special RTM sub-committee set up to decide if the Parkside Village affordable housing project will be built at the former site of the Branford Hills Elementary School (pictured above).
The uproar about the RTM sub-committee and its purpose came after RTM Moderator Dennis Flanagan (R‑5th) appointed Ray Ingraham (R‑5th), RTM Republican majority leader, as chair of the sub-committee. Both Ingraham and Flanagan represent the Fifth District where Parkside Village has been located since the 1970s. The 30-member RTM consists of 19 Republicans and 11 Democrats, representing seven districts.
RTM Sub-Committee Appointments Questioned
Chris Sullivan, the Democratic minority leader and a former RTM moderator, told Flanagan “it is a mistake” to make Ingraham the chair of the sub-committee “because it could add some political charge to the committee’s work.” Sullivan asked Flanagan to reconsider the Ingraham appointment as chair of the sub-committee because he also serves as RTM majority leader and as chair of the town’s Republican Party. But Flanagan, also a Republican, declined to do so. Both Ingraham and Flanagan represent the 5th district where Parkside Village has been located since the 1970’s, Sullivan noted.
The first meeting of the RTM sub-committee meeting takes place this Wednesday, April 26 at Fire Headquarters at 7 p.m.
The special sub-committee selected by Flanagan consists only of members from the affected districts, the Fifth District and the Fourth District, where the former Branford Hills School is located. Besides Ingraham, they are Adam Hansen (D‑4th); the RTM Clerk, Maryann Amore (D‑4th); Bob Imperato (R‑4th); and Don Conklin (R‑5th). While seven members, one from each RTM district, might have been chosen, Flanagan did it his way, pitting district against district, Amore observed at the meeting. Click here to find the BCTV tape of the April 12 RTM meeting.
The name of the RTM sub-committee, the Branford Hills Property Usage Committee, refers to one site, not two. Many of the residents at the current Parkside site at 115 South Montowese St., have lived there for decades and want to stay where they are. Their site is still in play though it may appear not to be.
The three buildings on South Montowese that comprise Parkside Village 1 were built in the 1970s and include 50 units of housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. The buildings do not have handicapped-accessible units or elevators, and are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Parkside Village 2, which has 40 units, was built in 1985, and has been updated with state grants. It is in better structural condition than Parkside 1, which is deteriorating.
The Branford Housing Authority, which is not a town entity, was established to oversee the Parkside Village public housing complexes, and does not deal with any other housing in town. Its authority comes from the state. The Housing Authority owns the Parkside Village properties along South Montowese Street, which have a combined area of about 10 acres. Future plans for the Parkside property should Parkside move have not been disclosed.
Marcia Chambers Photo
One swap proposal would replace Parkside 1 with one three-story building on the Branford Hills site. Another option would replace both Parkside 1 and 2, and would result in two buildings at the former Branford Hills school site. The school site is located across the street from St. Elizabeth’s Church.
The Branford Hills Elementary School, built in 1955 and used as a school until 1991, was demolished last year after independent evaluations found it was deteriorating, reports said. The area around the school site, once farmland, is now dense with condominiums and apartment housing. There is no park in this part of town at all, its residents say. The school site off Burban Drive is now ball fields and a park. A strong effort is underway to keep it that way.
First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove has not yet articulated his position on one site or the other, but in 2015 when it was announced that the Branford Hills Elementary School would be demolished, he thought a park at the site would be fine. “The property is nice. My feeling now is that area is underserved by any park so we have an idea of what to use that property for – a park, practice fields for lacrosse, soccer.” Click here to read the story.
A Letter to the RTM
At the outset of RTM meeting, Flanagan read a letter from Doug Denes, the chair of the Housing Authority, who sought a “development option” to replace “all or part of the Parkside Village development on South Montowese Street. The Housing Authority has not voted on the issue. They are seeking guidance from the RTM, Denes said in an interview. Click here to read a story about the Housing Authority’s meeting this month with RTM members, the first selectman and members of the Parkside community.
“We understand with this request, the RTM may form a subcommittee to consider the matter and will move as expeditiously as possible to give the BHA guidance on their support for such a concept. The BHA Commissioners and the staff of Beacon Communities (their development partner) will make ourselves available for any meetings necessary with the RTM and the public as the process moves forward,” Denes wrote.
Should the RTM be making decisions about land use, planning and location issues of affordable housing sites on its own?
RTM member Amore, who now sits on the sub-committee, raised the legal issue.
“I do have background in affordable housing,” she told the RTM. “It feels like we are making a decision on where to site housing, which is not our purview. We have a building commission. We have a housing authority and they should be much more involved before we get to that point. It’s a change, of use and if we make that decision it gives the housing authority and their developer the right to go ahead and do all the planning and architectural site planning there.” This means, she said, that “we are acting as the site choice.”
She also observed that RTM members from the Fourth and Fifth Districts “should be joined by others, not just members from the Fourth and Fifth Districts.” This make-up, she said, “will pit the districts against each other. That is not a good idea. So I think we need to consider what our role is very carefully…”
At that point Ingraham responded, telling Amore, “You are right on what we have to analyze. We are looking at a piece of property in town. We earmarked it. We knew we needed to use it. We cleaned it up, pulling down the school, cleaning up the site. Yeah, we need to find out what’s the best use of that property. That is what this committee is about. It is not pitting districts against each other. It is putting on districts that have things that might happen because of a decision from here.”
Ingraham assured Amore there would be experts brought before the sub-committee. Yes, he said, “there is a lot of analysis that has to happen.”
Bob Imperato, (R‑4th) District and the chair of the Public Services Committee, reminded his fellow members that “We have to have an agreement. There is no agreement right now. You have a willing buyer (the Housing Authority) but I don’t think we have a willing seller at this point. I agree with you Maryann. I look forward to hearing housing experts to help the town make a decision.”
Amore replied, “This is what town planning is about. It appears we are taking up the role of planning. And land use. And we have a commission for that,” she declared. The Town has a Planning & Zoning Commission as well as a Public Building Commission. The Housing Authority owns the Parkside land; the town owns the Branford Hills school site.
Ingraham observed that “when something comes to the RTM that we do have purview over, we do assign committees. This one is complicated. Having it go to a special committee makes sense. Everything that we have talked about regarding planning is what has to happen. What I am feeling is a lack of trust that has happened,” he said.
A Look at the Law
But does the RTM have purview? Ingraham did not cite the section of the charter or the town code that gives the RTM purview. There appear to be two relevant sections but neither may apply.
The first addresses the circumstances under which town land may be transferred or sold, mortgaged or abandoned. Section 73 – 3 of the town code, adopted in 1977, says “no town agency, town officer or the Board of Selectmen, shall “acquire, sell, lease, mortgage, abandon, gift, transfer or encumber in any manner real property of the town until such action has been approved by a majority vote of the members of the RTM.”
While the Branford Hills School site is owned by the town and while the RTM must approve any transfer of town property under section 73 – 3, the RTM’s duty is to ratify or not ratify the actions of another board or commission that has ruled on the issue. In this instance, no other board or commission has voted. The RTM special sub-committee is taking testimony, investigating and then deciding the issue on its own.
In addition, the requirements of the state statutes still apply to 73 – 3. “Nothing herein shall waive the requirements of Connecticut General Statutes, section 8 – 24, as amended from time to time,” section 73 – 3 says.
State statute 8 – 24 refers to municipal improvements and commissions and their requirement that the relevant commission issue a report regarding land and development issues before action is taken. Under a 2012 amendment to the 8 – 24 section, no municipal agency or legislative body “shall locate or extend any public housing, development, redevelopment or urban renewal project…until the proposal to take such action has been referred to the commission for a report.”
Another section of the Town Code, section 169, gives the Board of Selectmen (BOS) authority to enter into contracts for the town with non- profit owners and developers of affordable housing for the development of the project. The BOS may act on contracts only after the RTM approves the affordable housing projects.
Diana Stricker contributed reporting for this story.
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