The Bristol Town Council’s approval of the zoning changes necessary to move the redevelopment of the Robin Rug property forward went pretty smoothly last week — until the issue of affordable housing came up, late in the evening.

Before that point, there was a lot of preamble, beginning with a lengthy introduction of the issue by Town Solicitor Andy Teitz, who predicted that, along with the density issue, the affordable housing would be a point of concern.

Predicting that density was also going to be concern for members of the community, he said, “I’m sure one of the most contentious issues tonight will probably be dealing with a density section of that text ordinance about how many units can be there, based on the gross floor area…I think that was something that was inconsistent from the beginning in 2008 and we're suggesting that it be changed so we eliminate that inconsistency going forward, no matter what number you might pick as far as the number of allowable use.”

“Part of the text changes that have been made have been to remove that section entirely that had a formula that had 2,250 square feet of gross floor area for dwelling unit,” Teitz said. “And I think that our position is it doesn't really matter, that was not a good valid measurement tool to begin with.”

He followed that with instruction the Council as to the options on the table that night, which included making a decision, continuing the hearing, or closing the hearing and then acting or continuing, noting that the Town Council may not make any decisions that are inconsistent with the findings of the Planning Board, though they could remand the issue back to that body.

Affordability guidelines
Diane Williamson, Director of Community Development, followed by laying out the guidelines for affordable housing that the Council could choose to follow.

“State law requires that for rental units, the maximum amount of income is 80% of area median income…for example, a three-person household at 80% of area median income in Bristol, the maximum income to qualify for an affordable rental unit would be $69,650.”

Since rent cannot be more than 30% of your income under the law, the amount of rent is based on the number of bedrooms, plus one person. So in this hypothetical situation, a family of three renting a two-bedroom “affordable” unit would pay about $1,700 maximum.

Stephen MacGillivray, an attorney representing Friends of Historic Bristol, presented a couple of procedural arguments suggesting that the decision should not move forward at this time, primarily suggesting that the matter was stayed until the the Friends’ appeal of the Planning Board’s master plan approval is decided.

“I suggest you wait until the zoning board hears the appeal before you consider the amendment, because that's what the rules require,” he said.
Solicitor Teitz disagreed. “I do not think that the planning board recommendation is flawed, I think the planning board recommendation is valid to go forward,” he said, questioning the standing of “Friends of Historic Bristol” as an entity that legally has the right to appeal a decision of the Planning Board.

Several people spoke in favor of allowing the redevelopment to go forward, including several affiliated with the developer Brady Sullivan: Attorney John McCoy, Engineer Sean Martin, and Senior Project Manager Chris Reynolds. Perhaps most eloquently, Rob Stoltzman, an attorney for property owner Russel Karian, spoke of his longtime involvement with the project.

“I’ve been working on this site since 1985,” he said, mentioning several core principals that have not changed in that time, including preservation, public access, and affordable housing. “None of those are going away — they're all part of this application,” Stoltzman said. “You can nibble around the edges and get upset, quibble with this or quibble with that, but that's the project and it hasn't changed.”

The public speaks
At long last, the public had an opportunity to comment, beginning with those in favor of the project. Speaking as a business owner, Alayne White said, “It will absolutely create a lot of energy down there that we're not used to, but from purely a business standpoint…I think we need to focus on what our plan is to attract more young people to our community, I think, an apartment building of this size will attract younger, work at home people.”

Gina McDonald said, “As I look at the people who are opposed to it, had they been here however many years ago Stone Harbor was approved, they would have spoken in opposition to that. And I think, as we look at that project today it's a credit to Bristol, and we have many new residents that we wouldn't have had otherwise, so I urge you to approve this.”

Calling the property “A rare and very special eyesore,” DeWolf Fulton said, “People want to live by the water and there's only so much waterfront property in Bristol. Here's a prime opportunity to fulfill that dream for a significant number of people.”

Abutter Garry Holmstrom said, “I don’t object to the development of this valuable property, I just think we ought to do it right, by the law and by the rules,” asking that an up-to-date traffic and safety study.

Jane Lavender’s chief concern is the reputation of the developer, Brady Sullivan. “The amount of fines that company has had to pay the EPA is overwhelming,” she said. “I think that that is our biggest concern is who is going to be overseeing so we don't have this kind of damage to our community.”

Margo Jones was concerned about the optics of the affordable housing. “The affordable housing should be part of the mix, it should be on every floor, you shouldn't even know who's got the affordable housing and who doesn’t,” she said.

Sea rise and sustainability has Catherine Zipf strongly opposed to the redevelopment. “This building is at ground zero of climate change in Bristol…I’m hard pressed to find a way to save it short of 15-foot walls around it and it's going to be very, very difficult and very, very expensive,” she said. “Please, if you move forward with this make sure everybody associated with this building signs something that says they will not sue the town.”

Town officials weigh in
“I think it's a good project,” said Town Administrator Stephen Contente. “I think it's time to look at the future of Bristol and get the lights back on in that building. Things are very quiet there but it can't continue that way, the building is falling apart.”

Town Councilor Aaron Ley began the conversation, and it was immediately clear that affordable housing was going to be the only challenging sticking point.

“I don’t think that the Planning Board’s findings sufficiently address the affordable housing component…it's important because I think a lot of us have heard from people in the community who are having a hard time finding housing. My ultimate preference would be would be in full compliance on the exclusionary zoning ordinance and that we would have 20% units in this spot.”

“I agree,” said Councilor Mary Parella. “I’m really unhappy about the affordable housing being in [payments in] lieu of…I want to see these units in the building and that's really the bottom line for me.”

The conversation continued and eventually the bottom line became that it was nearly 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night, and it was time to determine if they should continue to the Aug/ 3 meeting, which they did, after approving a motion that they approve the Planning Board recommendations with the condition of keeping it 20% affordable housing with 10% in lieu, 3% offsite, and 7% onsite. Solicitor Teitz will be drafting that decision for Council approval at their next meeting.

Following the meeting, abutter and Friends of Historic Bristol member Marianne Bergenholtz had serious reservations about the decision.

“No one is looking at or discussing the actual text change [to the law] that will allow unlimited density,” she said. Reached for comment, Calouro refuted the assertion. “I get where she’s coming from, but we aren’t setting a precedent here. There’s no other plot like this. Our approval of 127 units is just that that, and it would be subject to any developer, not just this one.”