This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Funds Awarded to North Haven Affordable Housing Development

Thanks to funds awarded by the state last month, North Haven Opportunity for Affordable Housing, Inc. (NHOAH) will be able to move forward with an affordable housing development on Clintonville Road.

“We’re very excited about it,” said NHOAH President Marjorie Dauster.

NOAH will receive a loan of up to $3,124,500 to develop eight units of affordable housing. The location of the property is 518 Clintonville Road, and will be called Clintonville Commons.

The funds come from the most recent round of the Connecticut Department of Housing’s (DOH) Competitive Housing Assistance for Multifamily Properties (CHAMP) program.

First Selectman Michael Freda said that the town is currently below the state mandate for affordable housing properties.

“North Haven is at only about 4.7 percent of affordable housing stock, versus the state mandate of 10 percent,” Freda said.

According to a press release, the development will be owned and operated by NHOAH, and is adjacent to Hansen Park, which provides a variety of hiking and recreation opportunities.

It is also close to the Clintonville Elementary School and a variety of retail and other commercial services. The housing will include both two and three bedroom apartments, and serve households with incomes at 25 percent of the area median income up to 80 percent of the area median income. Based on North Haven’s median household income of approximately $86,000, the housing will be available to households earning between $21,500 and $68,800 annually.

Dauster said it will be a low-density rental development. The eight units will be made into four duplexes, and Dauster said the architecture was designed to be consistent with buildings in the area.

“It’s a wonderful project,” she said.

Although NHOAH has been awarded the funds, the sale is not yet final. Dauster said the paperwork should be complete by August or September, and is hopeful that construction of the development can begin in the fall, depending on the closing and weather conditions.

Right now, NHOAH is having the architecture and engineering finalized. However, the project did have trouble gaining traction initially.

“It was a very controversial subject,” said Freda, “The residents in the area were opposed to it.”

Dauster said the Planning & Zoning Commission initially denied approval to build the project at the Clintonville Road location because of traffic hazards. She said the concern was that many cars that drive by the area exceed the speed limit, and cars entering and exiting the development would potentially be a risk for accidents.

NHOAH successfully appealed the decision, and was allowed to proceed with the project. Freda also gave an example of another NHOAH project that was controversial at first.

“NHOAH has a history here in North Haven, and they built a project, at one time was very controversial, called Summerdale, in the Montowese section,” said Freda, “But the project has been a good project down in the Montowese section.”

NHOAH is separate entity from the North Haven Housing Authority, and Freda said the CHAMP funds will not go to the town, but directly to NHOAH.

“It goes strictly to the outside entity,” said Freda.

Nearly $23 million was awarded in the most recent CHAMP round of funding, with the Clintonville Commons project being one of six communities that were awarded funds. Other locations were in Bridgeport, Middletown, Hartford, New Britain, and Norwich.