The Sun: Birchwood Farms subdivision receives permits for Pawcatuck project

By Catherine Hewitt Sun staff writer | Mar 21, 2019 Updated Mar 21, 2019

STONINGTON — Birchwood Farms, a 40-unit residential subdivision that will include 12 affordable units, received unanimous approval Tuesday from the Planning and Zoning Commission for subdivision and groundwater protection permits for the project's 25-acre site located at 126 S. Broad St., Route 1, in Pawcatuck.

The developer, AJ Holdings LLC, of Baltic, Connecticut, applied for the project under the Connecticut statute 83-30g, which allows relief from most normal zoning requirements in communities with less than 10 percent affordable housing. Stonington, currently has 5.69 percent affordable housing. AJ Holdings is owned by brothers Andrew Hastedt and Joseph Hastedt III, both of Baltic.

“The affordable housing provision is a tool that was created by the General Assembly to recognize that affordable housing is an important need within the state of Connecticut and that need trumps many other issues that zoning is intended to regulate and manage,” Jason Vincent, director of planning for the town, told the commission at the beginning of the public hearing.

He said that 8-30g overrides the usual zoning regulations such as minimum lot size and maximum building height.

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