Quinnipiac Pitches Campus Rezoning

Quinnipiac University made its first official pitch of a ​“master” redevelopment plan to Hamden zoners — and, in turn, filed the town’s first-ever ask for a multi-property rezoning makeover.

That took place Tuesday evening at a meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, during a nearly three-hour presentation by a host of university representatives requesting that the commission agree to convert Quinnipiac’s campus into a ​“planned development district” (PDD) and, ultimately, support a proposal to build three new buildings on the southern end of its Mount Carmel Campus.

The commission did not vote during Tuesday on whether or not to turn Quinnipiac’s campus into a PDD, or to hold a public hearing on the matter, which was anticipated. Those aspects of the presentation were continued until an Oct. 25 meeting.

Click here to read more about the university’s ​“Master Plan,” which includes a proposed new, 79,000 square-foot business school, a 137,000 square-foot general academic center, and a 417-person residence hall to be constructed within the university’s existing footprint. 

Bethany Zemba, Quinnipiac University’s vice-president for strategy and community relations, has said that the plan is intended to support a new policy that will keep freshmen through juniors on campus (and potentially address residential concerns about Quinnipiac students taking over their neighborhoods) while better accommodating the academic needs of students.

“A strong Quinnipiac is a strong Hamden and a strong Hamden is a strong Quinnipiac,” Zemba stated on Tuesday.

The town itself just approved the adoption of new language allowing for planned development districts — or projects that propose a custom set of zoning rules and conditions in exchange for exemption from the standard local land-use regulations that would otherwise apply to their property — back in July. Read more about exactly what a planned development district is here.

Currently, Quinnipiac University’s northern Hamden campus is located in an ​“R‑2” zone, or land that’s meant to house and encourage low-density residential uses, primarily single-family homes.

“We’ve been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” said attorney Bernard Pellegrino, who is representing Quinnipiac in its PDD application. ​“We’ve been doing that successfully,” he said, through the use of special permits. But shifting from an R‑2 zoning classification to a planned development district would free Quinnipiac University — and the Planning and Zoning Commission — from having to weigh each site change in accordance with its respective zoning code and instead in accordance with rules drafted by the university and (not yet) agreed upon by the commission.

Read through those anticipated guidelines written by Pellegrino here, which, among other things, detail and alter the maximum lot and building coverage on the site. 

“The purpose of the PDD district would be to allow the future development and redevelopment of the property in accordance with the Master Plan of the University in a harmonious and consistent character in a manner that is more efficient for both the University, its administrators, faculty, employees, students and visitors while still protecting the character of the existing environs and the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Hamden,” Pellegrino wrote in that document.

On Tuesday, university officials and advocates focused primarily on persuading the community that Quinnipiac’s master plan would benefit them — through, for example, producing more students equipped with science, math and computing skills to perform health work in industries currently experiencing labor shortages or providing auditorium space for local events — while the Planning and Zoning Commission tried to work out the implications of rezoning the property.

Would rezoning the property and releasing the university from some inflexible regulations mean the town might lose control over the area? asked some commissioners, including Jay Cruikshank. 

Pellegrino stated that if the town agrees to turn the campus into a planned development district, the university will still have to return to the Planning and Zoning Commission for approvals each time it wants to build a new structure. The university has said that within the next five years, it does not intend to alter its campus beyond its hoped-for three-building addition, which would reportedly take about two years to construct.

So, for example, the university will still have to come back to Town Hall in the coming months with site plans for each of the new buildings it is proposing.

Town Attorney Tim Lee said that following new PDD protocols could actually grant the commission ​“a little more power” than they would have under the special permit application process.

For instance, if the commission was just following special permit processes and the town zoning regulations, both parties would be ​“compelled to abide” with a more stringent set of rules. Through PDD protocol, the commission has the chance to work with the university to create their own guidelines and regulations and will have more discretion in determining whether Quinnipiac’s proposals are in line with the aims defined by the unique PDD code.

Commissioners Tuesday also inquired as to why the PDD overlay suggested by Quinnipiac included single-family homes that branch off from main campus, wondering whether that could mean disruptions down the road to nearby neighborhoods that are home to individuals not affiliated with the campus.

“If someone could just articulate the purpose of including the single-family homes in the PDD,” Commissioner Shenae Draughn asked, that may satisfy concerned residents who had written in with the above question.

Sal Filardi, Quinnipiac University’s Vice President for Facilities and Capital Planning, said that doing so seemed only logical given that the homes were owned by Quinnipiac and, in turn, considered a part of the campus. There were no changes to those residences involved in the master plan.

Maybe the university could try to decrease the scope of its proposed planned development district to focus just on areas of anticipated expansion and exclude single-family homes to relieve the commission and residents of any possible future confusion or unforeseen problems, Cruikshank suggested.

Draughn also advised that in exchange for some relief in regards to zoning standards and pressures, the university should commit to some concrete plans to support Hamden itself, like a promise to hire a certain proportion of local and minority workers to build out the master plan as well as to buy from local businesses for construction and capital improvement needs.

Filardi said the university is already working with their contracted construction management company to achieve those goals and would report back with specifics.

“This is the Quinnipiac University of the future,” Pellegrino declared.

Nora Grace-Flood’s reporting is supported in part by a grant from Report for America.