WEST HARTFORD, CT — Plans to expand the University of Connecticut’s former assets on “big” Asylum Avenue do justice to the scope of what’s on offer.
In fact, adjectives like “gigantic,” “massive,” and “huge” don’t even give the proposal from WEHA Development Group LLC (aka West Hartford 1 LLC) its fair value.
On Monday, testimony and, perhaps, an initial resolution through a city land use board scheduled to take up position in West Hartford. But city officials on Friday showed a slight delay in the process.
Regardless, the allocation is still progressing with the creation, literally, of a new network in the city, one with housing, shops, parks and businesses being built on the site of the former university.
West Hartford planner Todd Dumais said West Hartford 1 LLC withdrew its initial programs for the allocation last month, subtracted the proposal and then resubmitted the plans to the city on June 30.
At its assembly on Monday, July 10 at 7 p. m. m. , the West Hartford Plan
Instead, Dumais said, it will only settle for new applications for progression at that time.
Essentially, he said, the procedure has been restarted. ” It’s the procedure again,” Dumais said Friday.
Dumais said new public hearings will be scheduled for August or September, depending on the commission’s prerogative.
When the PZC accepts the application, it will act as the city’s IWWA.
This means that it will not be in the plans themselves, but it will be in the elements of the allocation with respect to the wetlands of the old campus.
The progression will then be subject to more precise decisions through the PZC acting in its capacity as the city’s primary spatial planning agency.
Unlike other cities that have a separate wetlands agency, West Hartford PZC acts in this capacity.
long standing proposal
The redevelopment of the former UConn site, which served as UConn-Hartford’s branch from 1970 to 2017, has been the topic of conversation in and out of town for years, ever since the campus moved to downtown Hartford.
But after weeks and months of discussions in the subcommittee, formal requests were submitted, withdrawn and resubmitted.
And now the municipal councils making plans get down to work.
West Hartford 1 purchased it in January 2022.
The progression team has a pending call for the task, “Oakwood Park,” and they’ve even created a colorful and detailed online page of what they need to build.
According to a progression presentation presented in February to the West Hartford Design Review Advisory Panel, the task is multifaceted.
These include: multi-family residential housing; Boutique style retail components. Restaurants; Surgeries; a spa; a Community organic market; public parks, walking areas, trails and baseball fields; and a structured parking component.
Wetland approvals sought
Oakwood Park will go to the city’s IWWC in 4 separate programs for two separate directions that make up the development: 1700 Asylum Ave. and 1800 Asylum Ave.
According to the applications, 1700 Asylum Ave. se deals with the structure of multi-story residential buildings with “related services. “
Meanwhile, 1800 Asylum Ave. se concerned with the progression of the campus itself and all the other parts of what is planned there.
For each address, developers seek an IWWA permit because the allocation is located near a “regulated wetland area,” works that require approval from the wetlands council.
In addition, cope will have to download IWWA approval for a zoning map modification based on a recent “on-site soil study prepared by a professional soil scientist. “
According to Plaintiff’s representative, Robin Messier Person, an attorney with Alter Pearson LLC in Glastonbury, West Hartford 1 LLC’s withdrawal of initial wetland programs is due to feedback obtained from the city on the proposal.
“This recall request is made after lengthy deliberations and with respect for the valuable data obtained from the city manager and the city’s appointed reviewer,” Pearson wrote in the letter dated June 16.
“Applicants proposing advancements will be given more time to review and improve certain design elements related to wetland resource coverage before submitting a new application and filing it with the agency. “
For the Oakwood Park of the former UConn-Hartford campus, click on this link.
To view the full assignment submission submitted to the City of West Hartford, click this link.
View the minutes of the Fifth of June Assembly of the West Hartford Plan
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