FARMINGTON — A public hearing planned for Monday by the Farmington Village Corp. Appeals Board was continued until May 1, because only three board members were present for the hearing.

Four of five members on the board need to vote on the variance sought by University Credit Union. They are proposing to raze an apartment house at 152 High St. to install a parking lot adjacent to the credit union located on the corner of High and Middle streets.

Some neighbors, including representatives from the Farmington Public Library and the Farmington Historical Society, attended the hearing,

Attorney David Sanders represented a neighbor who could not attend for at least a couple of weeks and requested that the board wait until his client could be present.

The board agreed to set the hearing for 5 p.m. May 1 in the water department’s office at 137 High St. 

Representatives from the credit union sought an earlier date to provide time to negotiate with the apartment house owner. The apartment house and sale is school-oriented, as the apartments are mostly leased to college students.

Chairman Alden Smith suggested that waiting represents the desire “to be a good neighbor.”

The project will still need to come before the town’s Planning Board.

Since 1955, the town’s water department, the Farmington Village Corp., has had its own zoning plan. Water assessors appoint members to its planning and appeals boards, which review projects within the corporation’s zoning districts.

The Planning Board had already met with representatives from the credit union and did not have an objection to the plan. They just didn’t have the authority to grant the variance needed for the project,  Jane Woodman, water department business manager, said last week. 

The credit union went through the same process when it turned the single-family home into a service bank in 2007, she said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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