WETHERSFIELD - A proposal for a 70-unit, market rate apartment complex at a blighted Ridge Road property was rejected 5-4 by conflicted Town Planning and Zoning, (TPZ) Commission members last Tuesday night.

       Dissenting commissioners expressed concerns-raised by residents of Ridge Road and Tollgate Road-regarding how a three-story, commercial rental property would fit in with a residential neighborhood while praising the Ridge Road Development Group applicant for the design aesthetics of the proposed plan.

       â€�"No, I would not prefer it in my backyard if I lived there,” said TPZ Chair Thomas Harley. â€�"I think Wethersfield could use the tax base, but is this right for this area? It is not the Berlin Turnpike-it’s Ridge Road.”

       The estimated yearly tax value for the property was around $200,000-a figure that would move it into the top 10 percent on Wethersfield’s Grand List-according to Mayor Paul Montinieri and Economic Development Director Peter Gillispie.

       The Town Council granted developers a $400,000 tax abatement, but the fate of the application was to be determined before the TPZ.

       Tollgate and Ridge Road residents have described the area as an â€�"island” of owner-occupied homes surrounded by commercial real estate development-a potential detriment to property values. There is already a Stop and Shop plaza nearby, and homeowners are being asked â€�"to shoulder some of the risk” involved with the venture, residents said.

       â€�"With that kind of structure in the backyard, nobody’s going to say, ‘that’s a nice building-I’m going to move my family in’,” said Tollgate Road resident Benjamin Maynard. â€�"Before that, it was a nice wooded area with wetlands.”

       The five commissioners who voted against the application admitted that they were â€�"struggling” with the decision, but voiced similar concerns in their dissent.

       â€�"We’ve heard a lot about the neighborhood,” said Commissioner Rich Roberts. â€�"Driving up and down Ridge Road, I have the perspective of single family homes, driveways, and basketball hoops.”

       Commissioner George Oickle agreed.

       â€�"Many of the reasons, I think, were expressed by the audience,” he said. â€�"I think it’s overwhelming for the neighborhood. I think it may be too much in size. They’ve done an excellent job in presenting it. The aesthetic looks good but it’s just too much.”

       Residents who spoke at the two TPZ hearings-as well as a couple of public meetings held prior-asked what would happen if the $1300-$1700 per month units failed to rent to the developer’s â€�"young professional” demographic. Lower rent rates and future deterioration would be the result, impacting surrounding residential property values, residents said.

       Concern regarding property values are common, but his experience on similar projects tells a different story, said Don Poland, Senior Vice President of Urban Planning for Goman and York Property Advisors.

       Deterioration in general is a reflection of the surrounding housing market as a whole-not just one property-when looking at the issue over a longer term period, Poland said.

       â€�"You’d have bigger problems. It’d mean your entire housing market would have depreciated,” Poland said. â€�"Wethersfield has a strong market. There are a lot of properties that have been invested in and you don’t see deterioration.”

       The proposed development’s rates also exceed the limits set for Section 8 housing vouchers, developers said. The state will only subsidize up to $1100 for a single bedroom unit, and $1400 for a two-bedroom.

       â€�"These rental rates-these are mortgage payments,” said Commissioner James Hughes, who voted in favor of the application. â€�"I look at this as an opportunity for Wethersfield. Maybe people come in here and find out what Wethersfield is all about. Maybe they buy a house here after a few years.”

       Hughes urged his fellow Commissioners to consider the benefits of approving a project the town has more control of.

       â€�"What I would worry about is years down the road, what will go there?” he said. â€�"Something else we have less control of.”