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Branford PZC Extends Exit 56 Plan to July 2019

On July 12, the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) voted 4-1 to grant a one-year extension to file a site plan for future development at Exit 56.

The request was brought by combined property owners 595 Corporate Circle (owner of 569 East Main Street), Wayne Cooke Limited Partnership & Cooke Harrison Family Partnership (owner of 573 East Main Street), AHB, LLC (owner of 16 East Industrial Road), Peter G. Mandragouras (Trustee) & CVP Trust (owners of 20 East Industrial Road), and Connecticut Shellfish Company (owner of 26 East Industrial Road).

When the original Exit 56 development master plan was approved in July 2015, initially to include a Costco store and seven other unnamed businesses, town regulations allowed a two-year window to file a site plan. After Costco withdrew from the plan in 2016, the clock continued ticking on the window to submit new site plans. In July 2017, as the window was about to expire, some of the applicants sought and received (by a 3-2 vote) a one-year extension. At the time, PZC Chairman Chuck Andres and commissioner John Lust voted against the extension.

The tight July 2017 vote followed a debate during which the PZC requested input from Branford Town Attorney Bill Aniskovich. The PZC’s questions hinged on whether the PZC had the ability to grant the one-year extension, because there was no PZC regulatory language specifically permitting a request, but there was also no language in the rules that would prohibit such a request.

Next, in March 2018, the PZC approved a regulation amendment that now provides applicants a three-year window to submit a site plan, with two, one-year extensions permitted, for a total potential period of five years to submit a site plan.

According to minutes from the July 12 meeting, attorney Diane Whitney, representing the applicants, said the reason for requesting the one-year extension for filing involves “plans in the works to change the electrical service on the property and the right of way that goes across the property.”

By a vote of 4-1, the PZC approved a one-year extension to July 2019. Lust voted against the extension.