Former Grand Union—

Eton Center Redevelopment Project Receives Wetlands Permit

By Andrew Gorosko

A proposal to renovate and expand the Eton Center shopping plaza, which formerly held the Grand Union supermarket, has gained a wetlands permit from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC).

After a review of construction plans, IWC members on January 9 approved a wetlands permit application for the project at 5 Queen Street submitted by TPA Design Group of New Haven, said Rob Sibley, the town’s deputy land use agency director.

That wetlands protection review focused on the applicant’s proposal to extend a new driveway eastward on the property to the site’s eastern boundary with an adjacent commercial property. That east-west driveway would be constructed in a wet area lying south of the site’s northeastern corner.

The Grand Union supermarket, which was the prime tenant at Eton Center, closed for business in March 2001. That decaying space has been vacant since the closing. A Brooks Pharmacy at the site closed for business in April 2006. A Wachovia Bank branch office remains in business within the west end of the red-brick building on the 7.5-acre site.

The redevelopment proposal for the site from David Brause Realty of New York City calls for the construction of a new 3,195-square-foot freestanding building near Church Hill Road, which would house a branch office of Wachovia Bank. The bank would have customer drive-through facilities.

Overall, the project would contain 51,284 square feet of enclosed space, including a grocery store, general retail space, and bank. The grocery store would occupy about 33,000 square feet of space. Parking would be provided for about 250 vehicles. The applicant has not disclosed the names of the grocery and retail business tenants which would locate at the shopping center.

In granting a wetlands permit for the shopping center expansion/renovations, the IWC set many conditions on its approval.

Erosion and sedimentation control devices must be installed on the site and be maintained. The developer must keep town officials informed of the project’s progress, including advance notice of when the construction work would start, as well as a delineation of the planned physical disturbance at the site.

Also, any modifications to the approved wetlands protection measures on the site must receive prior approval from the town.      

The IWC is requiring the applicant to hire an environmental consultant to ensure that the construction work complies with the IWC’s developmental requirements.

Also, the IWC is requiring the applicant to remove any invasive plants that are located in the wetlands on the site.

The applicant is expected to soon submit an application to redevelop the site to the Borough Zoning Commission, which would later conduct a public hearing on the application.

Before that public hearing is held, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) would review the Eton Center shopping plaza redevelopment proposal in its capacity as the borough’s planning agency and make comments and recommendations to the borough zoners.

In December, following several sessions at which they reviewed the traffic and vehicle access aspects of the redevelopment proposal, Police Commission members endorsed the project. The Police Commission is the local traffic authority.

The shopping plaza would have access points on both Queen Street and Church Hill Road, as it now does.