FAIRFIELD – Neighbors of the proposed 400,000-square-foot hotel and apartment building at the site of the Circle Hotel at 441 Post Road filed an appeal in state Superior Court Monday, July 7.
The appeal called the town’s Plan and Zoning Commission’s (PZC) approval of the project “illegal” and ask that it deny the applications by the developer Spinnaker Real Estate. The neighbors – Matthew Robert and Michele Lynn Haffner Hendricks of Turney Road, Sean Kelly of Shoreham Village Drive, Alex and Lisa Plitsas of Cambridge Street, and Sydney Delfico of Post Road – are represented in the lawsuit by attorney Joel Green of Green and Gross PC in Bridgeport.
In the appeal they call the commission’s actions “illegal, unlawful, arbitrary and capricious and in abuse of the powers vested in the Defendant Commission.”
More specifically, the appeal states the “evidence in the record before the Defendant Commission does not provide a basis upon which the Defendant Commission could make the findings necessary for the approval of the Applications pursuant to the Connecticut General Statutes and the Zoning Regulations.”
They also charge the PZC ignored “procedural and substantive requirements” of the zoning regulations. The filing also states that as property owners that are within 100 feet of the property the neighbors are “statutorily aggrieved” by the PZC decision. They are worried about increased and unsafe traffic, increased noise levels and vehicle exhaust from the proposed development.
According to Green, no court date has been set yet. The answer date for the commission is Aug. 26.
As of July 10, the Town of Fairfield, which is represented by Cohen & Wolf of Bridgeport, has not filed an answer to the appeal.
The Circle Hotel redevelopment project progressed when the town Plan and Zoning Commission approved zoning amendments and a special coastal area permit in two separate votes in May and June. The second vote was made pursuant to Section 8-30g of the state statute for affordable housing. That gave Spinnaker Real Estate, which is the developer of the 6.936-acre project, the permission to demolish the hotel to make way for the project. Owners of the hotel and diner Spinnaker CEO Clayton Fowler and Ed Gormbley proposed the project.
The proposed development has 250 apartments, a 110-room hotel, and the existing Circle Diner.
Residents call for appeal
In a July 7 newsletter posted to the Nextdoor app, the Fairfield Circle Neighbors for Responsible Development called for Fairfield residents to support their cause to stop the Circle Hotel development and started a Gofundme campaign to raise money to pay for attorney fees to appeal the decision.
“We are Fairfield residents coming together to appeal the decisions of Town Plan & Zoning (TPZ) to two applications for 441 Post Road – the site of the Circle Inn. They are the 441 Post Road Mixed-use and the 441 Post Road 8-30g developments,” the group stated.
The newsletter explains how in early May, the first application – 441 Post Road Mixed-use – was approved by PZC despite serious concerns raised by neighbors. It mentions that a second application – 441 Post Road 8-30g – was soon submitted by the same developers, and was also approved despite rigorous opposition by neighbors.
“It is even larger than the first proposal, with six stories, 478 apartments and 687 parking spaces. This plan does not include a hotel and a diner. The proposal qualifies for Section 8-30g, a long-standing Connecticut law that severely limits local zoning regulations when at least 30% of the units are designated as affordable,” the group states.
“We have filed two appeals, one for each proposal, to challenge the decisions made by the TPZ. We are now submitting both appeals to the state Superior Court. These appeals will likely be consolidated by the court.”
The group stated that it would drop the appeals if Spinnaker made “reasonable” reductions to the project.
“So far, Ed Gormbley, the developer, has refused to negotiate,” the group states. “We still hope that he will come to the table to begin negotiations. But, until such time, we must continue to fight.”
