Canfield trustees eliminate PUD rules

The housing market
slowdown is one reason why.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — A housing development style that pitted developers against residents in the township and even made it to the voters is no more.

Planned unit developments, which allow more homes to be built on less land than a traditional single-family development does, are supposed to offer more affordable housing and conserve land.

At their meeting earlier this month, trustees took a vote and unanimously agreed to do away with the PUD regulations all together.

Since the township amended zoning regulations to allow them in 2004 though, residents have fought bitterly with developers over proposals they did not feel meshed well with their neighborhoods.

One such neighborhood, Westbury Park on Gibson Road, fought developer Chris Abraham of TC Quality homes when he proposed a PUD in the center of their single-family homes. They eventually came to an agreement with Abraham, which neither side would disclose, and dropped their fight.

The township zoning commission also found itself at odds with developers at times over plans, saying the developers weren’t “following the spirit” of the PUD regulations.

Moratorium

The township trustees imposed a yearlong moratorium on PUDs, which ended June 1. The planning commission took that yearlong break to revisit PUD rules.

Changes that were eventually passed included more and better distributed green space, deeper setbacks from other properties and a size cap to 15 acres.

In spite of the changes, which satisfied trustees, they extended the moratorium one more year. It was supposed to continue until June 1, 2008. Trustee Bill Reese said at that time the housing market slowdown had resulted in an overabundance of PUD lots sitting in the township.

Board president Paul Moracco said the housing slowdown is one reason to eliminate PUDS.

There were permits for only 27 homes issued this year in the township, he said.

Another reason, he said, is that township residents clearly don’t want the developments. He cited the Bella Nicolina case, in which South Turner Road residents stopped developer Jim DiCioccio from building 55 single-family homes and 117 PUD homes on 65 acres behind them on Gibson Road.

After the Bella Nicolina plans passed township zoning and trustees, the neighbors took the issue to the November 2006 ballot. Township voters defeated the PUD plan 2,482 to 1,191.

“It was the entire community who voted to support [the residents],” Moracco said.

Moracco said developments that are already approved are still going to be allowed to be built. They include Abbey Road off U.S. Route 224 and the Westbury Park PUD. They also include Wakehurst Village, a PUD being built in the massive Westford Community development along Route 224.