Facebook frenzy over apartment building proposed for Stamford’s Hope Street – The Advocate

STAMFORD — A century-old brick building on Springdale’s Hope Street, now home to a computer repair shop and a unisex salon, could soon be 15 apartments if former-Mayor Mike Pavia gets his way.

Pavia’s real estate company, Pavia Development, is slated Monday to present plans to the Zoning Board for a four-story building with 15 apartments above some 1,200 square feet of retail space on the site.

The proposal, already recommended by the Planning Board, calls for the demolition of the two-story 1917 building that housed Computer Tech Express and Denis & Gloria’s Hair Studio.

Before the plan gets to public comment, scheduled for Monday, it has already managed to rile Springdale residents on a neighborhood Facebook page.

“How many apartment buildings can they possibly squeeze onto Hope (Street)?” wrote Seth Kolbrenner. “This is getting ridiculous. Traffic is brutal enough as it is.”

“This needs to stop,” Linda Shippee wrote on Springdale Neighbors.

The reason for the uproar appeared three fold.

Some on the social media site worried over the loss of an old building; others fear congestion; and some wrote this type of building makes a mockery of the “village” in the Springdale “village commercial” zoning district, where the site — 916 Hope St. — resides.

The districts, created in part to establish hubs around train stations, allow for higher-density housing compared to the surrounding areas. Last year, the city Land Use Bureau amended the district to mollify the neighborhood concerns that the zones — near train stations — were becoming overbuilt and under parked.

Steve Garst, a founding member of the Stamford Neighborhood Coalition, which calls for less development in city neighborhoods, said this project isn’t huge, but emblematic of larger issues.

“Fifteen apartments isn’t the end of the world,” he said.

But, he added, there’s mounting dissatisfaction over higher-density housing and lackluster city services.

“There’s a lot of frustration,” he said. “The roads are in such disrepair in parts of Springdale.”

According to Land Use Bureau files, the proposed building will have 14 one-bedroom units and one studio, with 18 parking spaces. The retail space will be on Hope Street and parking will tucked behind and under the building deeper back, where some of the building will be supported by columns.

Though plans call for demolition of the old building, it appears the proposed structure will riff upon what now sits on Springdale’s main thoroughfare.

Two stories of brick facade — much like the two-story building although augmented with balconies — are sandwiched between two other white stories.

The architect behind the design, Elena Kalman, is a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and has designed celebrated renovations of historic structures around town.

Pavia, a Republican, was mayor from 2009 to 2013, between Dannel P. Malloy, who went on to be governor, and David Martin, still in office.

The Zoning Board meeting on the proposal, which includes public comment, is slated for Monday at 7 p.m in the Government Center’s fourth floor.

barry.lytton@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2263; @bglytton