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03/17/2020 03:30 PMPatrons will soon be able to tee off on Clinton’s newest attraction. The Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously voted March 9 to approve an application for a proposed ice cream café and mini golf course.
An application that was filed by 3 West Main, LLC, in late 2019, to build an 18-hole miniature golf course and an ice cream café on a plot of vacant land on the north side of Route One bordering the Hammonasset River drew significant interest from the community at two different public hearings held this winter. With the project approved, the developer has said it will get to work on the next steps of the project and that the work is expected to take some time. No target opening date was given.
The plan is for the property to have a 49-seat café built on stilts to offer patrons a view of the neighboring wetlands and river. The mini golf course will be aimed at adults and won’t feature the traditional obstacles that are associated with some mini golf courses.
Proponents of the project touted the increased visitors and the excitement the development would bring to town, while opponents were concerned about the environmental impacts from the project, specifically the types of lighting that would be used on the property.
The application drew an official intervenor: Ron Bodinson, a resident from the Madison neighborhood of Windermere, which is directly across the river from the proposed site. Several speakers from Madison spoke in opposition to the site and some expressed doubts on the economic vitality of the plan in addition to the environmental concerns.
The fact that the Madison residents spoke in opposition to an application in Clinton irked some residents who attended the public hearings. PZC member Walter Clark stated that he believes that the applicant should be thanked for changing its plans to accommodate concerns from the intervenor.
To satisfy a requirement from the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection that waterfront property be used for water-related activity, the applicant had proposed transferring a portion of the land to the Clinton Land Conservation Trust to be used as a kayak launch.
However, at a public hearing held on March 2, an attorney for the applicant told the PZC that there is no agreement between the developer and the land trust at this time. Two additional options were presented by the applicant: One option is that the owners would operate a kayak launch with a conservation easement giving the public access to the river. The second option is to transfer ownership of the portion of the property adjacent to the water to another entity and have that entity operate a kayak launch.
The developer’s representatives have said that the launch will happen; the question is who will operate the area. No dock or construction of any kind would be built on the river for the kayak launch. Instead there would just be a path to an area that is convenient to place the boats into the water. As part of a condition of its approval, the PZC stated no boats with motors will be allowed at the launch.
Lurrae Lupone, the owner of the property she intends to call Café Lurrae and 18 Flags Mini Golf, sent the following statement to the Harbor News: “I am very pleased to have final approval for the project known as 3 West Main LLC. Credit goes to my development team: Christopher McKeon, attorney; Thomas Stevens Engineering; Lindsay Suter, architect; and John Cunningham of Tec Landscaping to have brought my vision and idea to life.
“My father, Silvio Lupone, and his good friend Ronald Whiteman of Guilford had owned the property originally,” she continued. “In honor of my father, I want to create a family-friendly experience on the Hammonasset River in Clinton. What could be more fun than ice cream, small healthy bites, miniature golf, a canoe or kayak run up and down the Hammonasset River with the tides, or to enjoy the views of the river, wetlands, marshes from the deck of the café?”
Lupone said the next step is to get estimates on the cost of the work to be done on the property.