Stefanonis Decline Request for Hoyt Street Extension

Chris and Margaret Stefanoni have declined a request from the Planning and Zoning Commission for a weeklong extension to consider the couple's proposed Hoyt Street Senior Residences.

The decision means that P&Z will be required to vote on the project by March 24. The commission's next meeting is scheduled for March 22.

Sent Monday morning to P&Z director Jeremy Ginsberg, the rejection follows a similar response from March 2, when the couple  to weigh their Tokeneke Senior Residences application. 

The commission  as submitted Tuesday but approved a heavily-modified version.

In their letter on the Tokeneke project — which the couple referenced in Monday's response — the Stefanonis said that they had already granted multiple extensions and that the commission's "clearly hostile attitude" had left them unwilling to allow another.

"Any reserve of goodwill has been lost, not by our doing, but by the repeated bad faith actions and strategy of continual delay by the Planning & Zoning Commission as well as the overall disrespect exhibited toward the affordable housing applications," the couple wrote.

As proposed, Hoyt Street Senior Residences would be a 3-story, 16-unit development built on a half-acre parcel. The building's two-bedroom suites would range in size from 934 square feet to 1,073 square feet, accompanied by 24 surface-level parking spaces.

Five units at the facility would be designated as affordable, making it eligible for special protections under statute 8-30g. If P&Z rejects the proposal or approves a modified version, the couple can take advantage of a state appeals process weighted toward affordable housing developers.

At hearings and meetings over the past four months, P&Z members have expressed concerns about the traffic, fire safety, and environmental implications of the Hoyt Street development, questioning whether it is too dense for its proposed location.

Following last week's vote, commissioner Susan Cameron requested that Ginsberg ask for an extension on the Hoyt Street project despite the earlier denial.

"We are all volunteers on this commission. We have jobs we need to do, and a one-week extension does not seem like a big deal," Cameron said. "In my eight years on EPC [the Environmental Protection Commission], I can never remember an applicant not granting us usually a one-month extension."