At 249 Bridgeport Avenue, the Bridgeport Flyer Diner announced it would close on Feb. 23, 2025, a few weeks after Milford's Planning and Zoning Board approved an 80-unit residential development for the site. At 551 Naugatuck Avenue, the former Devon Duckpin Bowling Lanes closed in June 2025, and the board approved six townhouse-style apartments on the same footprint that September. Up the street, an 8-unit multifamily proposal at 463-467 Naugatuck Avenue was on the board's Nov. 4, 2026 public hearing agenda.
All three went through the same channel, Connecticut's affordable housing appeals statute, known as 8-30g. That channel is now doing more to reshape Devon than the zoning rewrite the city has spent the fall debating. Anyone buying near Bridgeport Avenue or the northern stretch of Naugatuck Avenue needs both documents. The zoning text shows the rules on paper, and the 8-30g record shows how parcels are actually changing hands and changing use.
The Rewrite That Has Been Postponed Since Early October
Devon's commercial core is zoned CDD-2, and the City of Milford has petitioned to replace that section of the regulations with a new "Devon Design Development District-2," or DDD-2. The proposal memo says the goal is to support Devon as a neighborhood center while balancing the Route 1 and Naugatuck Avenue corridors with the homes around them. The draft would allow middle-housing buildings of 2 to 9 units, and mixed-use and multifamily development. It would also let the board decide on adequate parking for mixed-use buildings and allow public parking to count toward that total. The revised text in the board's Sept. 29 packet sets a maximum floor area ratio of 3.0, counting accessory parking garages. A September comparison memo says the ordinary 40-foot height cap and the 55-foot bonus for projects with 15% qualifying affordable units would carry over unchanged from CDD-2.
City Planner David Sulkis told the board that changes in state law have affected the multifamily and mixed-use rules it adopted in 2025, and that the city has heard existing density limits make some properties hard to develop, according to Patch. Milford's Economic Development Commission voted unanimously to support the changes.
Board members have kept pressing on whether Route 1 and Naugatuck Avenue are different enough to need separate rules, whether ground-floor housing belongs on Naugatuck Avenue, and whether the parking and height standards fit. The timeline so far:
- Sept. 1 and Sept. 15, 2026: The public hearing opened and was held open. On Sept. 15 the board sent the draft to its planning subcommittee.
- Sept. 29: A special meeting produced a list of follow-up questions and no vote.
- Oct. 6: The item was "POSTPONED by Applicant Request," and the agenda set a Dec. 10 deadline for a vote.
- Oct. 20: The item was postponed again. Chairman Quish said the city's regulation change should go to subcommittee first.
- Nov. 4: The CDD-2 rewrite was not on the agenda. The 8-unit 8-30g application at 463-467 Naugatuck Avenue was.
The district's rulebook is stuck in committee while individual parcels in the same zone keep moving.
Why Parcels Can Move Without the New Rules
The Connecticut Department of Housing describes 8-30g as a way for developers to appeal to Superior Court when a town rejects an affordable housing application, or attaches conditions that substantially harm a project's viability. In towns below 10% affordable housing, the town must show that the record supports its decision. Towns at or above 10% are exempt from the appeals procedure. The DOH program page links the statute itself.
Milford's position on the state's 2025 list explains why the channel stays open. Here is how it compares with three neighbors:
| Municipality | Total housing units | Total assisted units | Percent affordable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | 23,749 | 1,294 | 5.45% |
| Stratford | 21,643 | 1,392 | 6.43% |
| Orange | 5,480 | 133 | 2.43% |
| West Haven | 22,735 | 3,534 | 15.54% |
Milford has used the statute's moratorium provision before. A 2025 Office of Legislative Research report lists two Milford moratoria, the most recent of which expired on Aug. 19, 2023. While DDD-2 sits in subcommittee, the Devon applications on file have come in under 8-30g.
Three Devon Addresses, One Route
| Address | Former use | Proposal | Status on record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 249 Bridgeport Avenue | Bridgeport Flyer Diner | 80 units in two buildings, 24 affordable | Approved under 8-30g, Jan. 21, 2025 |
| 551 Naugatuck Avenue | Devon Duckpin Bowling Lanes | 6 townhouse-style units, 2 affordable | Approved under 8-30g, Sept. 2, 2025 |
| 463-467 Naugatuck Avenue | Not described on the agenda | 8-unit multifamily, 8-30g | On the Nov. 4, 2026 public hearing agenda |
The diner project, filed by Metro Star Company LLC, combined lots zoned CDD-2 and R-10. The Connecticut Post reported the two-building plan and its 24 affordable units. At the old duckpin lanes, the board's minutes describe tearing down the existing building and building the new one on the same footprint. For the Naugatuck Avenue hearing, the board must close the hearing by Nov. 10 and vote by Jan. 14, 2027.
Look at the scale. Six units and eight units sit inside the 2-to-9-unit range DDD-2 is trying to permit. In practice, Devon is already getting the middle-sized housing the rewrite was written to encourage. It is arriving one 8-30g application at a time, each with its own site plan.
Buick Avenue Shows the Law's Limits
8-30g does not guarantee approval. In July 2026 the board unanimously denied a 53-unit, five-story 8-30g proposal on Buick Avenue, off Cherry Street, the New Haven Register reported. City planning staff, the police department's Traffic Division and the fire department all recommended denial, citing traffic, emergency access and gaps in the application. The Register noted that the statute allows a denial when it is needed to protect substantial public interests in health or safety that clearly outweigh the need for affordable housing and that cannot be protected by reasonable changes to the proposal. That project would have included 16 deed-restricted units out of 53.
The Register described Buick Avenue as a narrow, curvy lane, and the 53-unit plan there drew safety objections from three city departments. The two Devon projects already approved, at 6 and 80 units, sit on the Route 1 and Naugatuck Avenue corridors.
Why Developers Keep Filing
SmartMLS figures for September 2026 suggest the demand behind these filings sits in smaller homes.
- Single-family, September 2026: median sale price of $555,000, up 7.4% from September 2025. Days on market rose from 26 to 41, and homes sold at 101.5% of list price. Inventory was 118 homes, or 3.1 months of supply.
- Single-family, January through September 2026: median of $585,500, up 7.9% from the same period of 2025.
- Townhouse and condo, September 2026: median sale price of $425,000, up 15.6% from September 2025. Pending sales jumped from 10 to 24, and supply held at 1.8 months.
Milford has fewer attached homes for sale relative to demand than detached ones, with 1.8 months of supply against 3.1. Single-family homes are taking longer to sell but still fetch slightly more than asking. A townhouse-style building on an old commercial lot is aimed squarely at the tighter of those two markets. At Milford's September medians, a detached home costs roughly $130,000 more than an attached one, and the attached segment is where the new Devon supply is headed.
Reading a Devon Listing This Fall
For a house within a few blocks of Bridgeport Avenue or northern Naugatuck Avenue, the zoning map shows only part of what could happen next door. The record that matters most is the Planning and Zoning Board's own. The board posts agendas, packets and minutes on the city's Agenda Center, and non-participants can watch meetings on the city's YouTube livestream. Searching the packets for a street name will turn up any 8-30g filings, along with the affordability terms and parking plans attached to them.
Keep the Dec. 10 vote deadline for DDD-2 in mind as well. If the rewrite passes in some form, the same blocks could see more by-right mixed-use projects. If the board splits Route 1 from Naugatuck Avenue, as members have discussed, the two corridors could follow different paths. Either way, the 8-30g route stays available as long as Milford remains under 10%.
This post is general information about how a state statute and a local zoning proposal work. It is not legal advice, so please confirm how either one affects a specific property with a land-use attorney.
Considering a home near Devon center, or wondering how a pending application down the street could affect what your own property is worth? Elizabeth Casey brings more than 30 years of Fairfield County experience to reading the local record alongside the market. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, then let's talk through what's on file for your block.
