Norwalk Puts New Limits on Apartments

New limits on building density have been adopted by the City Council, including the creation of a medium-density zone for apartments and town houses and a reduction in the number of units permitted in high-density apartment zones.

The council last week unanimously endorsed the density revisions, which have been drawn up by the Planning Commission in the past six months.

In medium-density areas, 16 units per acre will be allowed, compared to nine units in the city’s single-family residential zones. In high-density areas, no more than 22 units per acre will be allowed, a drop from 26.

The density changes come during a moratorium on new apartment construction, prompted partly by concerns that apartment complexes are changing the character of the city’s single-family neighborhoods.

Last spring, the city found that zoning in a number of areas did not match the general plan. As a result, apartments and single-family homes could be mixed.

Besides revising the density restrictions, the Planning Commission has reviewed individual zoning maps to eliminate the inconsistencies. That work will be forwarded to the council for a vote.

So far, the council has received only one set of zoning recommendations. At the same time it voted on the density changes, it approved a complex rezoning of land bounded by Studebaker Road, Excelsior Drive, Graystone Street and Barnwall Avenue.