Controlling Destiny … and Density

OLD LYME – Change is going to come to Halls Road, but the Zoning Commission on Monday said now is not the time. 

In front of an audience of around 80, the commission voted 4-1 to deny a proposal created by the Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC) for an Overlay District to allow apartments and condominiums to be built above, or behind, ground-floor businesses set close to the street. 

Commission members credited their decision to a groundswell of opposition manifested in “Overlay? No Way!” signs all over town as well as in comments on social media and at public meetings. Concerns revolved around the hazards of allowing multi-family residential development in a commercial area with limited septic availability and no sewers. Critics also called out a lack of information and not enough opportunity for residents to get involved in the process. 

Denise Savageau, a former alternate member, who was elected to a full seat last November, told commission members during their deliberations that she shared the frustration of residents that felt they were left out.

A retired environmental planner, who now serves on numerous state-level commissions concerned with natural resources, Savageau said there needs to be more involvement from the Planning Commission, Zoning Commission and other relevant agencies in coming up with changes to Halls Road regulations. And the discussions need to be conveyed clearly to the public at every step.

“I want to stress that this is not about the Halls Road Improvement Committee, but about the silos that have been created by all of the land use commissions in town,” she said. 

She described issues such as climate change and a lack of affordable housing options — both of which are subject to more state mandates with each passing year — that require local regulations to evolve. 

“The changes are going to come,” she said. “We need to plan.” 

The failed overlay district application is the latest in an effort going back more than a decade to improve the three-quarter-of-a-mile strip between two Interstate 95 interchanges that feed the town’s historic district and its shoreline. First there were calls for sidewalks; then came the possibility of village-like storefronts and apartments, a pedestrian bridge and more greenspace. Much disagreement and several discarded plans later, one of the only areas of widespread agreement is that Halls Road remains unattractive.

Some want big changes. Some want more modest aesthetic improvements. Others are fine with the way things are.

Member Jane Marsh in her deliberations recalled the commercial zone’s origin in the middle of the last century as a place people could easily access and find a place to park amid the rise of suburbanization. 

“It was created because it wasn’t going to be the most fabulously beautiful location in town. It was going to be functional and pragmatic for people, and that’s how it got built,” she said. “… It serves its purpose. It may not be very beautiful, but I don’t expect it to be beautiful, actually. I expect it to be the way it is.”

The overlay district proposal was approved by the Board of Selectmen in a 2-1 vote in November. It was endorsed 5-0 by the Planning Commission in January. 

Having a Conversation

One of the loudest voices against the overlay proposal was Robin Breeding, an artist whose social media posts and graphic design helped galvanize the opposition. Many people did not find out about the overlay district proposal until she began to publicize the issue after a sparsely attended public hearing in January. 

She welcomed the Zoning Commission’s decision in a phone interview Tuesday. 

“People didn’t know this was happening a month and a half ago,” she said of the overlay district proposal. “They thought it was going to be the sidewalks and that pretty stuff that they talked about in the beginning. And then they started to realize that it wasn’t that any longer. And they started to learn about what it was.”

She said the contention that the plan would help address a need for affordable housing was inaccurate. With the state pushing for towns to ensure at least 10% of their housing stock is affordable to lower income households, she argued the Halls Road Overlay District plan to require one out of every 10 housing units to be rented or sold at affordable rates wouldn’t advance the town’s obligation by even one percentage point. 

Only 1.58% of the town’s housing stock is currently affordable by state standards, according to data from the state Department of Housing. 

She said the overlay proposal threatened to drive out existing small businesses — many of them service providers in office settings — through its focus on new development and ground-floor retail options to be built over time if there’s enough interest from developers. 

“And so it was basically saying, ‘We don’t care about you now,’” she said of the plan. “‘We only care about some future pie-in-the-sky version of what this could be, but we can’t guarantee it.”

She said the ongoing overhaul of the zoning regulations by an outside firm presents a new opportunity for the public to learn about and become involved in the process of improving the town, including Halls Road. 

The $129,776 update of the town’s zoning regulations is being conducted by the Hartford-based FHI Studio. 

The planning and design firm was hired late last year to embark on a year-and-a-half-long project to clean up existing language in the regulations and then engage the public in discussion about potential changes as to what can be built in town, and where. 

When it comes to the kind of changes that residents of Old Lyme have a tolerance for, Breeding cited sidewalks as a good place to start. 

“And let’s have a conversation with the town, and talk to the town about how they want to move forward,” she said. 

For and Against

Commission Chairman Paul Orzel during the hearing said the public opposition brought to light some questions that have gone unanswered. 

Estimates for how many units could be built under the overlay application range from 200 to 1,200, depending on who’s doing the calculation and which variables are considered. 

“I’m a firm believer in controlling my destiny,” Orzel said. But the proposal as he saw it left too much to chance. 

Member Mike Miller applauded the residents, who spoke up against the plan. He said he shared their concerns related to the environment, tax increases and the effect of more residents on the school system and the delivery of public safety services. 

He called for a return to the basics. 

“There are many things that the HRIC brought up to our attention that are good. For example, the original charter of sidewalks and landscaping,” he said. “I think we need to have a safe corridor for pedestrian traffic for the kids from school. We have our students that come into town and work the shops. There are things that we can do.”

The lone vote not to deny the application came from Mary Jo Nosal, a former selectwoman who disputed the contention that the public hadn’t been a part of the process. She cited public surveys, various workshops, town update meetings, annual budget approvals, and reviews and input by local agencies including the Zoning Commission, Planning Commission and Board of Selectmen. 

She recalled that a master plan to guide improvements on Halls Road emerged as a response to efforts from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to run high-speed trains through Old Lyme. 

Fears of the FRA’s plan slowed home sales and threatened business closures, according to Nosal. 

“The town also faced a scarcity of housing and office space options, and still does,” she said. “Long time residents had nowhere to live once they sold the family home; our children could not return to their hometown as there was nowhere for them to live and certainly afford; and community workers — teachers, healthcare workers, beauticians, grocery store workers — could not find an affordable home in town. Electric Boat was beginning its exponential growth but these professionals could not find a home here.”

She said the guiding question at the time was how to maintain and attract business and make housing more available, “While making it harder for the FRA to bulldoze our community.”

“The result was the development of the master plan for Halls Road and the effort to protect and improve our town center while being able to apply for state and federal grants for various improvements and bring in design experts to guide the process,” she said.

Nosal acknowledged many in the community feel the process behind the overlay proposal was flawed. 

“The Town of Old Lyme could look to improve the process for future town regulations and assure that more town meetings, land use joint meetings and significant planning occur as a lead-up to planning and zoning review,” she said. “But it cannot be denied nor should we dismiss the fact that many residents, the non-profits and business owners were represented in the process.”

Next Steps

After the vote First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said the Board of Selectmen will discuss the issue at a meeting over the next few weeks. She said Halls Road Improvements Committee Chairwoman Edie Twining has already expressed interest in working together to plan the next steps.

Twining on Monday night declined to give her own comment. But she referred to Denise Savageau’s speech on the need for town boards and commissions to work together — rather than in silos — so they could better inform and invite participation from the public. 

Twining could be seen during the meeting taking notes as Savageau spoke.

“Denise was 100% correct,” Twining said.

Editor’s Notes: i) Mary Jo Nosal is a financial supporter of LymeLine.com, but has no input to the editorial process, which remains completely independent.
ii) A reminder of Our Policy on Comments.