Developers propose six‑story mixed‑use building and ask council to extend TOD overlay to site

Developers seeking to redevelop the northeast corner of Fifth and North Main presented a mixed‑use proposal that would demolish existing low‑rise buildings and build a commercial ground floor with five residential floors above.

Jack Brian (architect) and representatives of Greenwich Bay Development said the scheme includes roughly 35 apartments (seven units per floor across five floors), two ground‑floor retail spaces and about 17 parking spaces accessed from the higher‑level lobby. The team said the lot is currently C2 commercial (four stories by‑right) and asked the city to extend the Transit‑Oriented Development (TOD/T2) overlay onto the parcel so the project could be built up to six floors and with TOD parking limits. The applicants said that in a TOD overlay the maximum parking commonly is one space per unit and that the overlay also enables higher density.

Presenters showed alternate massing: an as‑of‑right four‑story option that would expand the footprint and require structured parking, versus the overlay scenario that concentrates mass along North Main and steps back toward neighboring homes. They noted edge treatments — a six‑foot solid fence on a retaining wall, planting and bay windows — and presented shadow studies to show limited adverse shadowing at key midday hours. The design team also described a likely permit path that includes the City Planning Commission, ordinance committee public hearings and two council votes; they estimated a conservative 9–12 months for approvals and another year for construction from the point the project is certain.

Public commenters raised neighborhood‑character and scale concerns, noting the east side of North Main has had less development and that a single taller building could be the start of broader change. Task force members said they saw potential benefits for activating underused lots but asked the applicants to continue neighbor outreach, clarify the parking/bicycle‑parking approach and explain timeline dependencies. The developers said they will keep meeting with neighbors and that they are considering bike parking, EV/ebike charging and modest street‑tree plantings at the sidewalk edge.