P&Z OKs Greenwich Housing Authority Plan for Cos Cob

The Greenwich Housing Authority has received unanimous approval to proceed with its plans to establish five affordable housing units on Strickland Road in the Cos Cob section of town.

The Planning and Zoning Commission granted a municipal improvement status—a designation needed for the plan to allow the purchase of properties at 85 and 87-89 Strickland Rd. The unanimous vote came at the commission's Jan. 8 meeting.

There is a two-family house and a 1-bedroom cottage at 85 Strickland, and a two-family residence at 87-89 Strickland, according to the authority's lawyer Louis Pittoco. The properties are across the street from Cos Cob harbor and the Cos Cob municipal parking lot. The buildings would be renovated and rented as affordable housing, Pittoco said.

"Currrently, we have no properties that we manage in Cos Cob. We thought that these properties with proximity to the Cos Cob train station and public transportation, it would be good to purchase them," Pittoco explained. Access to public transportation "means inhabitants can access downtown Greenwich" for work, he said.

In response to questions about the authority's intent for future use of the properties, Pittoco said, "We intend to do some interior renovations on the cottage. It was damaged by fire some years ago. There is some interior decorating to be done to the other two houses." He also said there wouldn't be any other site work, "other than to clean up the property which is unsightly."

In an interview in December, housing authority board member Sam Romeo said the purchases would provide the authority with its first affordable units in the Cos Cob section of town and allow the authority to reopen its waiting lists for applicants for the subsidized Section 8 housing units.

The planning board also agreed that if any site changes were needed they could be reviewed by Town Planner Diane Fox rather than the entire planning board.