Residents oppose proposed Fairfield hotel/apartment complex

FAIRFIELD – Affordable housing may be front and center over the next month in the Plan and Zoning Commission hearing room as it considers two sizeable projects, but residents aren’t too happy about them.

A plan to remake the Circle Hotel at 441 Post Road and its surrounding properties into a 400,000-square-foot New England-type inn and a separate apartment building with 250 units was presented to the PZC late last month. It would include 110 rooms for the inn and a 5-story parking garage. The three buildings on the site include a motel, the Circle Hotel and Circle Diner. The diner will not be part of the proposal as the owners have a long-term lease, according to Circle Hotel co-owner Ed Gormbley.

The apartment structure will contain 36 studios averaging 560 square feet, 150 one-bedroom units averaging 785 square feet, and 64 two-bedroom units averaging 1,176 square feet, according to Wofsey Rosen, a law firm representing Gormbley’s FH Hotel LLC. The current Circle Hotel site has 41,961 square feet covering three buildings.

The town’s Affordable Housing Committee heard a presentation from Gormbley and Fairfield attorney John Fallon on Dec. 18. During that meeting the committee seemed to be pleased with the proposal and offered to write a soft commitment letter to the PZC.

Gormbley explained his reasoning for renovating and repurposing the Circle Hotel site at this time.

“We have tried to make a go of that as a hotel for many years,” Gormbley said. “It has not been the greatest hotel location predominantly because the building is obsolete. It was built in 1960s. We cleaned up what we could. But it’s just at the tail end of its life.”

This proposal came on the heels of a 46-unit affordable apartment complex by Jeffrey Vangele of Fairfield, a former banker with J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. That plan would be built on the footprints of two Tunxis Hill Road homes and another on Soundview Avenue. It would adhere to Section 8-30g of the state’s affordable housing zoning exemptions.

A hearing on the Tunxis Hill proposal is due during the Jan. 14 PZC meeting. No date has been set for when the Circle Hotel proposal will be presented and heard.

During the Dec. 18 meeting, Fallon explained how Gormbley and We’ve probably talked to 80 neighbors at this point. We have 70 signatures so far and signed letters of support from 17 neighbors.

Residents living near Circle Hotel have banded together to oppose the proposed hotel and apartment complex for myriad reasons. They have created an online petition that has received 413 signatures.

“Most of us think the architecture of the project is attractive,” said Karen Wackerman, who heads up the Fairfield Circle Neighbors steering committee. “We know that housing, and affordable housing, is needed and like the idea of that addition to the neighborhood. The town also needs a nice hotel.

“But this project is enormous – over 400,000 square feet and 360 units of apartments and hotel rooms on a lot that would be permitted under zoning regulations to have 65 units. We are not demanding 65 units, but we want a smaller footprint, more distance from surrounding homes, and certainty that Turney Creek (directly behind the hotel) and surrounding tidal wetlands will be protected, storm water runoff will be properly controlled, and traffic will not be significantly worse than it currently is.”

In addition to the size of the proposal, the neighborhood group is opposed to storm water retention issues and the dangers of the Fairfield Circle next to the current hotel.

“It is very dangerous and the town and state have been working for years on a plan to change it to make it safer; we don’t know how this project will affect those plans,” Wackerman said. “While the developer states that storm water retention will be better than it currently is at the site, our understanding is that there is currently no retention at all.”

As for including affordable housing in the proposal – 12% of apartment units would be “affordable” – Gormbley insisted that part of the plan is what is driving him to do it.

“Affordability has been near and dear to my heart for a very long time,” Gormbley said. “I grew up in the area – it’s very expensive to do that on the salary of my mom, who was just a bartender at Colonnade. We didn’t have a lot of resources, but we were able to enjoy the great settings of Fairfield County.”