Branford Town Planner Jose Giner sent in word of his resignation Dec. 8 and will complete his last day on the job tomorrow, Dec. 24.

He joined the staff in 2013, replacing long-time Town Planner Shirley Rasmussen. Giner leaves Branford to take a high level role with the town of Bloomfield, as Director of Planning and Economic Development. The job oversees departments including Planning, Building, Engineering and Inlands Wetlands. 

"I really enjoy working for the town of Branford and all of the activity that's going on here, so even a sideways move wouldn't have been enough for me to leave. It's also a unique opportunity and I knew if I didn't jump on it, it wouldn't come up again," Giner told Zip06/The Sound today.

With a population of approximately 21,000 Bloomfield is slightly smaller than Branford but much closer to Giner's home town of Windsor. 

Giner assisted the town in completing development at Anchor Reef (Maple Street), ushering in a major development at the other end of the land, Stony Creek Brewery (under construction on Indian Neck Avenue). He also helped oversee the approval of Stony Creek as a new Village District and submitted what is expected to a be a $200,000 grant to devise a game plan for creating a Transit Oriented District stretching from the town's train station to points in the Fourth Ward, Branford marina/Anchor Reef district and out to Montowese Street at the town center. 

"The governor was supposed to announce the grants on Friday (Dec. 19), but we got word on Friday that the announcement is being delayed," said Giner.

If funding is approved, Giner said the resulting study would help Branford create a "cohesive" area that would lend itself well to future development. He added the study would also likely incorporate solutions for flooding issues on Meadow Street. 

With regard to working with the Stony Creek Association to meet its request to become a Village District (as adopted by the town in November), Giner said he was glad to have been able to assist to create the best outcome for the town and the village. 

"The Stony Creek Village district, helping sort of shepherd that through from the first week or two. It came from something that they'd wanted for a long time and that was then resurrected and adopted last month, and I had some input into tweaking those regulations so they would work for the town as well as the Stony Creek Association," he said, adding he enjoyed meeting association members, walking through the village and "looking at it from their perspective." 

Giner said it's a tribute to the town of Branford and the Creekers that another zoning issue in Stony Creek, the Stony Creek Association's (SCA) appeal of the Legacy Theatre fit-up permit, went through the process to determine a town decision -- even though the town decided to uphold the permit (see the story here http://bit.ly/1xdQoVO ) Following the town's upholding of the permit on Nov. 18, the SCA voted to pursue a reversal of the decision through the court and notified the town of its intent to appeal. 

"Even where we disagreed with the (SCA) on the Legacy and were on opposite sides, at the same time, we worked together to do the village district, with the same people who were opposing the Legacy permit. That shows, to a certain extent, that we all can be somewhat civil in our discussions and realize everybody's out to do what's best for the town. We're all pushing toward the same goal," Giner said.

Giner leaves just as Branford enters into what should be an extraordinary phase of development. There are two major projects on the near horizon-- residential/commercial Atlantic Wharf (at the former Atlantic Wire factory) and Costco's pursuit of developing a big box store in Branford at I-95 Exit 56.

Plans for both projects were jumpstarted this month. Atlantic Wharf developers revealed a master plan during the first part of a public hearing with Planning and Zoning Commission in early December-- read the story at this link http://bit.ly/1ADUB4p .

Also in December, Branford First Selectman James B. Cosgrove confirmed Costco is seeking to submit a plan to develop an East Main Street property off Exit I-95 -- read the story at this link http://bit.ly/1t6Yhed . To date, a formal application from Costco has not been filed with any town agencies; but Giner said he expects a Master Plan will be submitted and in January and public hearings should begin in February.

"We've had a couple of meetings with them already and they should start submitting master plans soon," Giner said, of staff meetings at Town Hall held with Costco this month.

As for the Atlantic Wharf project, Giner noted he was in on much of the early planning which has brought the project to the current master plan stage. In his opinion, the proposal will certainly "clean the site up," he said.

"It's one of the first sites you notice when you're in town. I remember my first drive through town, seeing that site and saying, what's the story with this place? So it's been great to see something proposed for it, and whatever final version may go in there. I'll certainly want to come back and see what's been done with it," said Giner.