Former Fireside Inn Site Is Transforming Into Highland Plaza

By Andrew Gorosko

Work is continuing on the redevelopment of 123 South Main Street (Route 25), at which the site of the former Fireside Inn is being transformed into the future Highland Plaza.

The Design Advisory Board (DAB) this week was reviewing drawings for the project, which is planned to include retail space and a restaurant. The DAB reviews the aesthetics of such projects and makes recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

The Highland Plaza project includes the demolition of the western end of the former Fireside Inn and its replacement with new facilities. The Fireside Inn was a restaurant, banquet hall, and catering facility.

In November, the P&Z  approved the developer’s initial phase of the Highland Plaza for Highland HC, LLC.

The ongoing renovation work would increase the structure’s size by less than 1,500 square feet, expanding it to a floor area of 31,896 square feet. Approximately 6,050 square feet of the structure on the western side of the building would be reserved for a future 120-seat restaurant. The remaining 25,846 square feet of space is currently designated as “ancillary storage space,” but would be put to retail uses in the future, according to the developer. That area formerly served as the Fireside’s larger banquet hall.

The various changes being made to the structure will have it meet applicable building codes, including fire codes and handicap access codes.

The Highland Plaza application approved by the P&Z in November amounts to Phase 1 of what would be a three-phase project. The second phase would involve specifying the restaurant and retail uses of the renovated and expanded structure. The third phase would entail the construction of a new approximately 20,000-square-foot retail building lying south of the renovated structure.

People living near the site have expressed concerns over the impact of future redevelopment planned for the property, focusing largely on their quality of life and the traffic that would be generated by new commercial uses in that congested area. The site is in a B-2 Business zone.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil has said the P&Z is “extremely concerned” about the traffic effects of such redevelopment. “Traffic will be a big issue,” he said, noting that traffic circulation near the site poses issues.

Future applications from Highland HC, LLC, to the P&Z to further redevelop the site will require a formal traffic study, unlike the initial phase of the redevelopment project.

In its approval for the first phase of Highland Plaza, the P&Z required that the project meet applicable commercial sign regulations; that a waste dumpster on the site be enclosed, visually screened, and shut when not in use; and that the applicant clearly mark a wetland conservation area on the eastern section of the site.