WEST HARTFORD, CT — One of the largest developments ever pitched in West Hartford has received another in a long line of necessary land-use approvals required before any shovels hit the dirt.
The West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission at its last regular meeting on Aug. 5 voted 4-1 to approve a wetlands permit associated with one component of a plan to develop the old University of Connecticut campus site in West Hartford.
In West Hartford, the PZC acts as the wetlands agency when it comes to wetlands permits.
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Plans call for the complete demolition of all buildings on the Asylum Avenue site and to build 12 new buildings for commercial/mixed-use residential, a new private roadway and parking lots.
This aspect of the development would be at 1800 Asylum AVe., West Hartford.
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The developer, “West Hartford 1,” purchased the 58-acre site in January 2022 and has filed applications under the names WEHA Development Group LLC and WEHA Development Group East LLC.
The working name for the project is “Oakwood Park.”
Facets of the development include multi-family residential housing; boutique-style retail components; restaurants; medical offices; a spa; an organic neighborhood market; public parks; walking areas, trails and ballfields; and a structured parking component.
One component is at 1700 Asylum Ave., which calls for the construction of four multi-story residential apartment buildings.
The wetlands permit for this aspect of the project was approved last January.
The other component is at 1800 Asylum Ave., which was subject to the approved wetlands permit Aug. 5.
This part of the project calls for the construction of 12 new buildings to have a diverse array of uses, ranging from mixed-use to housing to retail/commercial buildings.
The wetlands permit application for 1800 Asylum Ave. was withdrawn last winter amid delays and questions from commission members and the public.
At the time, the project called for 14 new buildings, with the latest application, officially submitted in June, now scaling the project back by about two buildings.
The wetlands permit also calls for a new, private roadway throughout the site, parking lots, pedestrian walkways, and various landscaping features.
A wetlands permit was required because it is close enough to wetlands and/or wetlands soils to require IWWA approval.
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After being continued in June and July, the application was finally decided after a public hearing was closed Aug. 5.
Redevelopment of the area, which was the UConn-Hartford branch from 1970 to 2017, has been part of town conversations for years after the campus relocated to downtown Hartford.
After a wetlands permit is granted for 1800 Asylum Ave., the commission — acting as a PZC — will address new applications on the zoning side for both 1700 and 1800 Asylum Ave., meaning construction is still a long way off.
Last winter, when the first batch of plans for the massive and complicated project went before the PZC/IWWA, several hearings took place taking several hours.
Many of those testifying expressed environmental concerns about the project and the impact it could have on the town.
But PZC/IWWA members had to reiterate the wetlands permit component is all that the board is discussing/deciding at this time.
Those other concerns will be discussed when the zoning phase of the applications takes place, a timeline for which has not been finalized.
For the minutes of the Aug. 5 West Hartford Plan & Zoning Commission/Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency meeting, click on this link.
From June 26: ‘Massive West Hartford Development Project On PZC Docket Wednesday’
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