Retail/Office Building Proposed For Mt Pleasant Road
Retail/Office Building Proposed For Mt Pleasant Road
By Andrew Gorosko
The town is reviewing a development application from a real estate firm that wants to construct a two-story commercial building in a B-2 (Business) zone at 164 Mt Pleasant Road.
Mike Struna, the owner/broker of Advantage Realty/Commercial of Bethel said January 21 that the applicant, Acme Realty of Scarsdale, N.Y., is seeking to construct a commercial building that would be suited for both retail and office uses. The B-2 (Business) zoning at the site allows for retail and general business uses.
The structure would enclose roughly 30,000 square feet of space, according to architectural plans for the project.
The 3.2-acre site, which is on the north side of Mt Pleasant Road, lies to the east of the long driveway that leads to the Homesteads at Newtown assisted-living complex.
Construction plans call for the removal of 920 cubic yards of earthen material from the 164 Mt Pleasant Road property to prepare it for construction.
The site currently holds a vacant dilapidated single-family house, detached garage, and shed, which would be demolished to make way for new construction. The site is lightly wooded and has stone walls. The appraised value of the property is $737,174, according to town assessment records. Nuevo Pueblo, LLC, is listed as the owner.
Mr Struna said the proposed building would likely hold a mixture of retail uses on the ground level and office uses on the upper level. Currently, there are no tenants committed to the project, he said. The developer probably would not construct the building until tenants are committed to occupying the space, he said.
The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) currently is reviewing plans submitted for the project.
At the IWCâs January 14 session, Keith Beaver of Didona Associates of Danbury presented IWC members with details on the plantings that would be made at the site. Engineer John McCoy of JFM Engineering Inc of Ridgefield described the stormwater drainage plans for the project. Also, Jody Chase, a wetlands ecologist from Essex, described wetlands and wildlife in the area.
The application pending before the IWC concerns the construction of the commercial building, the creation of parking lots, the placement of new a driveway, and the installation of stormwater drainage facilities on the site. The project would be served by a public water supply and sanitary sewers.
Wetlands permits, which are issued for such commercial projects, are valid for five years, and may be extended for another five years.
Conservation Official Rob Sibley said that an environmental issue being reviewed by IWC members is the quality of the stormwater that would be discharged from the site to a nearby wetland. The IWC is seeking to prevent any additional pollution from entering the wetland that lies south of the site, he said.
The application pending before the IWC is a relatively simple one in terms of wetlands protection, he said.
The proposed commercial building would be positioned at least 100 feet back from Mt Pleasant Road, he said. Also, the building would be constructed at a slightly higher elevation than the street, Mr Sibley said.
Several IWC members have visited the site in reviewing the developerâs plans for the property, he said.
If the project gains IWC approval, it also would be subject to review by the Planning and Zoning Commission.