Branford's Representative Town Meeting (RTM) has approved Branford Housing Authority's (BHA) grant of a public access easement to the Town to continue public use of a portion of Sliney Road. The easement was accepted by an RTM roll call vote with 23 in favor, 2 opposed and no abstentions.

The access road section, owned by BHA, leads to Sliney Field, a town playing field behind BHA's Parkside Village 1, located at 115 South Montowese St. BHA and developer Beacon Communities LLC (MA) plan to demolish the current Parkside complex and redevelop the site by constructing a single building with 67 units as an assisted housing development under Connecticut General Statutes § 8-30g.

As Branford citizen Todd Petrowski commented during the Feb. 9 RTM meeting, additional easement arrangements still need to be addressed between the Town of Branford and BHA. However, as Town Attorney William Aniskovich emphasized, the only item before the RTM on Feb. 9 was to consider, and if appropriate, approve the public access road easement between and among BHA and the Town.

"It is an easement that runs from the Branford Housing Authority to the Town of Branford, that provides public access over the portion of Sliney Road from South Montowese to about the midpoint of the road that is owned by the Branford Housing Authority," said Aniskovich. "It secures access for the public over that portion of the road; to clear up any confusion about whether the public has a right to use Sliney Road to get to the fields. The question of to what extent any future construction easement or traffic management plan impacts any other portion of the property is not before you tonight; and will be, as Mr. Petrowski has said, before you at a later time."

Both Aniskovich and BHA/Beacon attorney Andrea Gomes (Hinckley Allen, Hartford) previously provided information on the easement agreement to members of the RTM Administrative Services Committee at its Feb. 2 meeting. Following a "lengthy discussion," on Feb. 2, the committee recorded a "bipartisan" vote of 6-1 to recommend to the full RTM approving acceptance of the easement, committee chair Victoria Verderame (R, District 4) reported to the full RTM on Feb. 9.

In her minority report to the RTM on Feb. 9, Rep. Carolyn Sires (R, District 5), who voted against the item in committee on Feb. 2, said she would be voting "no" again on Feb. 9.

"I'm voting no on this easement. I have misgivings about my document review of the easement. I feel I need to review the safety plan and related documents pre-and post-construction and the division of cost to maintain the road as an all-season emergency access road," said Sires. "While I have no doubt that the passage is going to continue this evening, I feel I need to do a site visit and do a little more review before I can give a fullhearted vote of yes."

Rep. James Stepanek (R, District 4), who is not a member of the Administrative Services Committee, also said he would be voting against accepting the easement on Feb. 9.

"I basically of course agree with allowing Branford residents to access that land. I think that's perfectly logical; and my vote normally would be yes. Now, I understand the vote tonight is purely on that easement. It has no other issue involving the property or its management. But I've grown to be so skeptical and concerned about the way that property has been developed and handled that I feel no alternative except to vote no, because I don't see any other avenue of expressing my great disappointment with how it's been managed," said Stepanek.

Parkside Village 1 was built in 1974 with 40 one-bedroom and 10 studio units. Through the years, it has provided affordable housing to Branford senior citizens and adults with disabilities. Several years ago, with numerous issues facing the failing residential complex, BHA entered into a site development agreement (amended May 2016) with Beacon Communities LLC to redevelop Parkside Village 1.

Beacon's original Parkside redevelopment plan was submitted to the Branford Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) in 2016 and was withdrawn in October 2016, with BHA citing a lack of support from the public, Town Planning staff and Fire Marshal among reasons for the withdrawal of the plan.  Beacon then returned with a 3-part application which sought, in part, to create an Assisted Housing District under § 8-30g. The PZC applied a complex super-majority voting rule requiring all 3 applications to be approved, ultimately approving 2 of the 3 applications to result in a denial in January, 2018. The PZC's denial was overturned in October, 2018 by a Superior Court decision. In June, 2019, the PZC approved the redevelopment site plan and coastal site plan, with several conditions attached. BHA and Beacon then appealed some of those conditions in a Superior Court land use case which came down against the Town. In October, 2020 the Superior Court ordered the PZC to modify a condition of approval which had required an agreement to use Town property for secondary fire and emergency vehicle access. The PZC's petition to the state Appellate Court, asking for a review of the Superior Court decision, was denied in January, 2021. In April, 2021, with 4 of 5 commissioners voting in the affirmative but "under protest," the PZC unanimously approved a resolution containing court-ordered modifications to the Town's approved Parkside Village 1 redevelopment site plan and coastal site plan.  

The resolution approved by the PZC in April 2021, together with site maps containing the Sliney Road easement, were provided to the RTM to assist with its deliberation and can be viewed together with the RTM Feb. 9, 2022 agenda posted a www.branford-ct.gov

The Feb. 9 RTM meeting was conducted using remote technology and recorded by Branford Community Television (BCTV).