Bronson apartment plan's fate awaits TPZ vote after four nights of debate

John Fallon, the lawyer for a developer who wants to build a 95-unit apartment building on lower Bronson Road, had a rough start to his rebuttal at the fourth and final public hearing on the controversial project Wednesday night.

The controversial application by Garden Homes Management was the topic of 16 hours of testimony and debate in the past nine days when the Town Plan and Zoning Commission ended its hearings on the plan about 11 p.m. Wednesday. The Stamford developer's plan calls for construction of a three-story apartment building on 2.7 acres at 92 and 140 Bronson Road. The property, which the developer has a contract to buy, is bordered by an Interstate 95 on-ramp and Metro-North Railroad tracks.

Fallon opened his rebuttal Wednesday by suggesting "conditions of approval" that the TPZ could adopt when it expects to vote on the development application next week. But Fallon only made it halfway through his list before Matthew Wagner, the TPZ's chairman, said it sounded like he was changing the development plan without allowing it to be reviewed by Joel Z. Green, the lawyer for opponents, or the public. Neighbors of the proposed development have expressed strong opposition to the plan at the earlier meetings on the application.

"You're proposing a new plan with new parking, a turnaround and smaller number of units," Wagner told Fallon.

Fallon disagreed: "We offer not a revised plan but a sketch as to how these can be implemented."

Wagner said none of Fallon's proposed conditions of approval had been reviewed by engineers or the public, and questioned whether Fallon was "conceding there are public health, safety and welfare issues that are problematic for which you have to make modifications to your plans."

"Absolutely not," Fallon said.

Fallon said he stood by the application that was filed by Garden Homes and that his proposed conditions of approval were in "no way any admission there are public health and safety issues." He said the commission had an obligation to find conditions of approval, instead of denying the application if they exist, because the development application was filed under 8-30g, the state's affordable housing statute. Fallon said he was trying to be constructive.

Wagner brought Green into the argument by saying he wanted Green to submit something in writing that spoke to what Fallon was proposing.

Green said he and his clients "strenuously object" to Fallon's conditions of approval being part of the record "without our having the opportunity to review them."

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Bronson apartment plan's fate awaits TPZ vote after four nights of debate