Stefanonis Sue Darien Over Technical Review Fees

Developers Chris and Margaret Stefanoni have filed another lawsuit against the Town of Darien, this time seeking to recover technical review fees incurred during the hearing process for their Tokeneke Road and Hoyt Street affordable housing proposals.

The suit, served on July 6, alleges that the Planning and Zoning Commission lacked the authority to make the couple pay for consultants hired to review their applications — and that those consultants were unnecessary in the first place [read].

In summer of 2010, the Stefanonis with the town to construct two different affordable housing complexes: a sixteen-unit development at 57 Hoyt St. and a 30-unit development at the corner of Tokeneke Road and Pheasant Run.

After a lengthy hearing process, the P&Z commission both applications but approved heavily scaled back versions of both. Members cited a litany of legal, traffic, environmental, and fire safety reasons in justifying both decisions.

The Stefanonis in state court, but the couple also contends that it shouldn't have been forced to pay for the drainage, traffic, and legal consultants brought in by the town during that process.

According to the latest suit, the Stefanonis were asked to submit thousands of dollars in deposits to cover technical review fees before the start of each hearing process. While the couple disputed the charges, they eventually submitted the required checks.

When the final tab came in, the Stefanonis were charged $33,021 in technical review fees between the projects — $14,360 for Tokeneke Road and $18,661 for Hoyt Street.

Though departmental regulations authorize the P&Z director to hire outside experts, the Stefanonis contend that consultants were "not necessary" in this instance due to input from ConnDOT, the Environmental Protection Commission, and their own team of experts.

Likewise, the couple argues, the commission "lacked statutory authority to require the plaintiffs to pay the fees for the consultants."

P&Z Director Jeremy Ginsberg said on Wednesday that it's not at all unusual for the commission to hire experts to review more complex proposals.

"Consultants really add expertise … [they] can come in and say, 'yes, that's accurate,' or 'no, that's not,'" Ginsberg said.

"One has to remember that the commission are lay people," he added, and that they don't always have the background to address more technical questions.

Ginsberg also said that it's standard procedure to bill applicants when such experts are deemed necessary.

But in another part of the lawsuit, the Stefanonis allege that the town's regulations regarding technical experts contradict "the public policy of encouraging the development of affordable housing" and exceed P&Z's statutory authority. 

For that reason, they're also seeking a declaratory ruling by the court deeming the regulation invalid and wholly inapplicable to 8-30g applications.

The suit was filed at state Superior Court in Stamford on Aug. 5.