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12/09/2019 11:00 PMAt the first Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) meeting since the November elections, the commission reviewed litigation challenging its May 6 decision denying a gas station/cenmvenience store with a drive-through on Quinnipiac Avenue and also elected its slate of officers for the next year.
On Dec. 2, First Selectman Michael J. Freda presided over the choice of officers in which Vern Carlson, who has served on the commission for more than 20 years, was re-elected chairman. Richard Wilson was elected vice-chair and Theresa Ranciato-Viele was chosen as secretary.
In executive session, the PZC discussed the lawsuit filed against the commission by Nadeem Khalid of K. Brothers, LLC, proprietor of an existing convenience store and gas station at 224 Quinnipiac Avenue. No decision on the litigation was reached at the Dec. 2 meeting.
In his request to the PZC, Khalid sought to demolish and reconfigure the property’s existing fuel stations and canopy to allow for an expansion of the convenience store with drive-through service. Khalid also cited the need to replace underground fuel tanks as a reason for the project.
The application, which the plaintiff alleges was approved by default due to state statute mandating a decision with a specified timeframe, was voted down at the commission’s May 6 meeting.
In addition to not adhering to a statutory timeframe, the plaintiff alleges in the complaint that “…the commission’s decision is premised upon speculation, concerning potential issues associated with plaintiff’s site plan application, in particular traffic issues, and is not based upon requisite expert testimony and/or evidence identifying quantifiable harm concerning these alleged, but unsubstantiated, traffic concerns.”
The results of a traffic study and discussion of car lines at the drive-through was discussed at the PZC’s April 1 meeting.
Khalid had received approval from the town’s Inland Wetlands Commission on Jan. 23 for “regulated activities associated” with modifications to the service station and store.
In other business, the PZC members voted to approve the subdivision and special permit applications of Senior Luxury Housing, LLC for seven building lots, eight parcels in total, along Warner Road. Carlson described the project as “upscale housing” on land previously owned by the Borrelli Farm.
The PZC also approved the excavation and fill permits of United Technologies Corporation, Pratt & Whitney Division on the approximately 160-acre site where its operations once stood. The company is obligated by environmental laws to remediate contaminated dirt in the four or five streams on the westerly portion of the property, according to Alan Fredricksen. The project could take up to 12 weeks, according to Carlson. Amazon’s new fulfillment center occupies a portion of this property, which is closer to Route 5.
A final approval was given for a request to convert nine, one-bedroom units to six, two-bedroom units at 160–164 State Street.
The PZC also denied proposed amendments that would alter zoning regulations to permit residential apartments above first floor commercial uses in CB-20 Zoning Districts along Quinnipiac Avenue and Middletown Avenue and both the site plan application and coastal area management application of Niklyn Corporation relative to 400 Sackett Point Road due to violations on the property including a cease and desist order for bringing trucks on to the property and storing them without approval of the commission, according to Carlson.
An application by Bernard Pellegrino. for five lots along State Street was also denied. Pellegrino sought the zone change for his client, an air conditioning and heating company, to enable the business to add more service space to its existing buildings. The zone line, which does not correspond to the property line, ranges over the five lots, which are also zoned residential.
“We didn’t hear anything from the people it affected in the residential area,” said Carlson. “We have no idea what their thoughts were on this…so we denied it.”
Pellegrino said that he and his client will “go back to the drawing board with the engineer to see how best to accomplish what [his client] needs with the space and setback requirements that are mandated when you have this split zoned property.”