Senior Housing Development Coming to Buckland Street
- Avery Martin
- Jul 22
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Despite concerns from some Southington residents, Lovley Development Inc. received the go-ahead from the Planning and Zoning Commission to begin the process toward developing at 310 Buckland Street.
Concerns related to the development were heard at Tuesday night’s Commission meeting. Several members of the public spoke in opposition to the zoning change, which would shift the property from a R-20/25 residential zone to an ARCHZ age-restricted housing zone.
“I see animals all day long, from bears to coyotes to groundhogs to deer. There's animals that live in those woods, and they should not be disturbed,” said Melinda Santana, who lives on nearby Mulberry Street.
Santana’s property would border the proposed development, which she said would increase the amount of traffic near her home and decrease the privacy in her backyard.
“We have a nice yard. It's quiet. It's bad enough that we have to deal with the street. We have to deal with all these people driving up and down the road with their loud cars and all their problems,” said Santana. “We go to our backyards and have the peace. We're not going to have that peace, and it's also not easy because we don't have sidewalks at Buckland.”
Other residents living near the proposed senior living development also spoke of concerns related to the overdevelopment of the town.
“We have so many houses now. It’s not like a town anymore,” said Catherine Shields, who lives on Old Turnpike Road.
The 55-and-older community slated for development will include four ranch-style duplexes, as well as a single-family home, with single-car driveways and two visitor parking spots.
The Commission voted six to one to approve the development. Member Caleb Cowles said that what is developed on the property is ultimately the right of the owner, and the Commission can only work with the zoning status of the property.
“The property owner has the constitutional right to develop that property. All we can do is listen to the public, hear what their concerns are and try to craft our decision based on what we can best do to have a less intrusive development,” said Cowles.
The sole ‘no’ vote came from Commission member Justin McGuire, who said that while he is generally in favor of similar developments and the alternate residential plans for the property may raise more concerns, the public concerns must be taken into account.
“I think it's very important to take into consideration comments from people who live next to the property that is going to be developed. I would say that there's a very real possibility that what would go in there without the zone change is less desirable. But it is also very important to take into consideration the comments and feelings of those around the property,” said McGuire.
Aside from the property development at Buckland Drive, the Commission also voted to approve adopting the 2026 Plan of Conservation and Development and Supplemental Open Space Plan.
A zoning change at 207 Lazy Lane, a subdivision application at 152 Williamsburg Drive and a petition to change a zoning district boundary from business to residential at 215 Flanders Street were all also approved.
