Selectmen Seek Report On Potential Allen O'Neill Handover

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to seek a report from the Planning and Zoning Commission on a proposed handover of Allen O'Neill Drive, a preliminary step in the Darien Housing Authority's planned redevelopment of the surrounding homes.

The roughly quarter-mile-long road cuts through an 11-acre parcel that the authority hopes to revamp, forming a right angle with Elm Street to the north and Noroton Avenue to the west.

Plans call for the existing 53 residences at the site to be replaced by a 107-unit affordable housing development, for which the authority hopes to gain control of the street in question.

When a town relinquishes a public thoroughfare, Connecticut law requires the matter to be sent to the applicable planning commission first for a report—hence Monday's referral.

In March 2009, when the commission approved a battery of related zoning changes sought by the authority, it expressed general support for ceding the road.

"Although the abandonment of a public road is highly unusual, the Commission believes that it is appropriate due to the size, nature, location, and specific layout of this development," read the resolution adopted by the commission.

Though the motion carried unanimously on Monday, many, including First Selectman Dave Campbell, have voiced concerns about the scope of the project in the past.

"Allen O'Neill is the result of the panic of getting to points; that whole thing is too big and too aggressive," Campbell told Patch in March.

It's unclear how, if at all, the authority's prospects might be affected by Darien's pending application for a four-year 8-30g moratorium.

The fate of the petition rests on whether the state accepts Darien's tabulation of affordable housing "points" generated across town since the law's passage. If the bid is successful, Darien will be able to prevent developers from overstepping local residential density restrictions—something the law permits in towns with minimal affordable housing. 

And with the pressure of locating more points temporarily relieved, the town could conceivably become more discriminating about the projects it green-lights. Allen O'Neill had been viewed as a possible wellspring of points, but recent tabulations by the Planning and Zoning Department indicate Darien may have enough credits without it.

Before final approval, a relinquishment of Allen O'Neill Drive would be referred back to the Board of Selectmen and later to the Representative Town Meeting.