The Zoning Board unanimously approved the construction of 26 townhomes in the Glenbrook area on Hope Street on land currently the site of a single-family home and the former Haitian American Community Center. To make way for the new units, the home, detached garage, large driveway and a former church used as the community center will be demolished. The Planning Board in June 2023 approved a change to the city’s master plan — which guides the city’s approach to development for 10 years — to allow the project to move forward. Ravi Ahuja, architect for the project, argued the buildings were technically two-and-a-half stories tall because the garage was considered a basement and didn’t count toward the building’s height, in part because the back yards, creating by filling in the space between the backsides of the units, were higher than the roads among the townhomes and came close to the garage’s ceiling. Stamford Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing disagreed at the time, saying the filling couldn’t be used to determine how tall a building was. He instead said he wanted Zoning Enforcement officials to take a look at the proposed development and make a determination.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-hope-street-townhomes-haitian-19609814.php