Milford P&Z wary of apartment plan with car lift parking

Developers are seeking to build an 8-unit apartment building on Cherry Street in Milford, Conn. on a site currently occupied by a two-family house.

MILFORD — The Planning & Zoning Board has pumped the brakes on a Cherry Street apartment plan, citing concerns about the proposed “auto lift” parking design.

The board, at its meeting Tuesday, delayed a decision on Cherry Pie, LLC’s move to redevelop 17-19 Cherry St., a 0.25-acre site, into an apartment building with eight units, three of which will be “set aside” as affordable under state statute 8-30g.

The board’s major concern focused on the developer’s plan to install an “auto lift” system that would enable two cars to occupy a single parking space.

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Board members raised concerns about the lift system and ultimately continued the public hearing, asking the developer to provide more information about the design, how it operates and what safety measures are in place.

In all, the developer has planned for 12 parking spaces, four of which are covered. There will be four surface spaces, to the south of the building; and four lift spaces, accessible via a mechanical lift and located above the four surface spaces.

With such lift systems, cars are driven onto a platform, which then lifts vertically with hydraulic cylinders to the specific leve, enabling a second car to park underneath. These systems are more common in congested urban areas where parking space is at a premium.

Attorney Andrea Gomes, representing the developer, said that the lift spaces would most probably be given to those residents with more than one vehicle. Those assigned to the "lift” spaces would also be trained in its use.

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“We believe these are safe,” Gomes told the board.

The board asked for more information on the specific lift unit to be installed as it waits for recommendations from the Police Commission.

At its meeting last month, the Police Commission denied the plan, citing concerns from the police department’s traffic division about the use of the lifts.

As noted in the commission’s June 17 minutes, Commission John Mager and police Sgt. John Kranvak said they were concerned about this type of apparatus.

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Police Sgt. John Kranyak added that the “auto lift” was concerning for him as well.

Mager said he was “very concerned about the possibility of injury to residents" and supported denying the plan "until we learn more about it."

Gomes told P&Z that further information has been sent to the Police Commission and department for review, but had not yet received a response. She further said she would return to the next board meeting with more information on the lift system, which she called "a way to incorporate additional parking without needing larger sites or increasing impervious surfaces.”

She said the Cherry Street application was the first one she had worked on with such a system.

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A two-family home now sits on the site, which has access through a shared driveway with an adjacent four-unit apartment building to the east. Gomes said the same shared access would be used to access the new development.

The plan calls for four one-bedroom units, between 696 and 839 square feet, and four two-bedroom units, between 954 and 1,183 square feet.

The application states that the redevelopment will “provide an attractive design, and a modest increase in density, in a manner consistent with existing and available infrastructure, without creating any substantial public health or safety concern, or impacts to neighboring properties.”

But neighboring property owner Ralph Malafronte called the property a “monstrosity” and voiced concern about those using the shared driveway to enter the site.

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He added that an easement allows the neighboring property to access their site. He said after seeing the plan designs it appears the new owners’ use of the driveway is “not what I allowed the last owners to do.”

The application states that the driveway use would not be an additional burden and is less intense than prior uses, which included an office.

There is also a question of whether the developer would be required to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission before any demolition of the present structure.

The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but Gomes said a city ordinance gives the preservation commission authority to regulate such structures. Several property owners are currently challenging that 2015 ordinance, she said.

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Gomes said Cherry Pie LLC is attempting to opt out of the designation for 17-19 Cherry St. If that opt-out is unsuccessful, Gomes said the developer would move to obtain the certificate of appropriateness prior to any demolition of the structure.

“This does not impact your decision here,” Gomes said.