A massive New Jersey-based developer lost its court appeal to build hundreds of apartments on part of The Hartford’s former Simsbury campus, but the company is looking to pursue an appeal.
At stake is whether The Silverman Group gets to construct 432 apartments on the southern half of the property along Route 10 just west of the Farmington River.
Community opposition has been widespread and the town’s Zoning Commission denied a permit in early 2024, prompting a court case that took nearly two years to settle.
A Superior Court judge two weeks ago dismissed Silverman’s lawsuit, saying the town did nothing illegal when it turned down the project. But Silverman’s attorneys last week signaled that they plan to contest that finding by taking the case to Connecticut’s Appellate Court.
The ultimate outcome will have substantial ramifications for the affluent suburb, where a series of recent residential projects have many taxpayers looking to put the brakes on new development.
Simsbury residents widely opposed the project at hearings in 2023, warning that it would severely worsen traffic while adding a financial burden to the school system by bringing higher enrollments.
Silverman at one point was proposing 580 units, but scaled back the numbers in the face of stern community resistance. Even so, scores of people against the 432-unit version either sent letters to commissioners or spoke against it at hearings.
“We live here because of the character of Simsbury,” Paul Ricciardelli told commissioners.
“We bought here because of the space. I shop local, I live local. I saved 10 years to be able to afford to live here — I aspired to live here because of the quality of life for my family,” he said. “My fear with a building like this is you’ll see this town denigrate itself into a Southington or Plainville or New Britain.”
He said he doubts Silverman’s projection of adding no more than 100 new students to the public schools. Many speakers noted that the plan included some three- and four-bedroom units, and warned that could spur a large, costly enrollment surge.
Susan Salina, a former school board chairwoman, said she is skeptical about developers’ projections .
“In 16 years on the (school) board I saw a lot of these developments come in; the student numbers we were told to expect were far exceeded,” said Salina. “The Ridge North is a great example. We started out with those kids in Latimer Lane (School) and because of the volume we had to redistrict them to Central. We’re looking at a potential redistricting of the town to accommodate them.”
Salina also dismissed the argument that traffic wouldn’t be worse than when The Hartford employed more than 1,500 workers at its headquarters.
“We didn’t have Aspen Green, the Ridge North, Highcroft,” she said, naming relatively recent residential complexes. “We have so many more people in town now than when The Hartford was an active corporate park. Making a left out of town hall at 4:30 in the afternoon can take 10 to 15 minutes.”
Resident Paul McKenna acknowledged that Silverman has a right to develop its property, but added that owners also should integrate their projects into the community.
A few residents defended Silverman, saying the new project would help alleviate the housing shortage. Silverman was offering to set aside 15% of the apartments at affordable rates, and was planning to build a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and 27,500 square feet of industrial/commercial space, too.
Simsbury’s zoning commission concluded the plan didn’t do enough for Simsbury, wasn’t designed on an appropriate scale, and carried too many potential liabilities for existing residents.
Silverman sued, saying the decision was arbitrary and illegal. But Judge Claudia Baio ruled Jan. 29 that commissioners acted reasonably and within their authority, and dismissed the case. On Friday, Silverman’s lawyers filed a motion asking for more time to submit an appeal to her ruling.
Silverman already has large multifamily projects in Simsbury, Brookfield and Stamford as well as New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The company’s portfolio includes office, warehouse, industrial and medical properties in those states along with Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and elsewhere.