P&Z Reviews Office Building Proposed For Mt Pleasant Road

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are reviewing plans for a proposed 20,000-square-foot office building that would be constructed at 174 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6), near the Bethel town line.

Mount Pleasant Road, LLC, presented its plans for the project at a March 6 P&Z public hearing. The firm is seeking a special permit for the proposed two-story office building.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing the applicant, told P&Z members that the structure would be built on a site directly north of the 12,000-square foot building that now holds Grace Christian Fellowship Church. A single driveway extending from Mt Pleasant Road would serve both structures.

The church group has received P&Z approval to construct a new church off Hawleyville Road (Route 25), near Exit 9 of Interstate 84. The church would move to its new quarters after they are constructed.

The office building proposal has gained wetlands approval from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC), Mr Hall said, noting that a brook crosses the site. The project also has gained an endorsement from the Design Advisory Board, Mr Hall said.

Plans call for the addition of about 223 cubic yards of earthen fill at the site to prepare it for construction, he said. The applicant would seek approvals for signage in the future, Mr Hall said.

Both the proposed office building and the building that now houses the church would be connected to the public water supply in the area, Mr Hall said.

Equale and Cirone, LLP, an accounting firm, would relocate its Danbury and New Milford facilities to the new office building after it is constructed. A financial services firm also would locate there.

Accountant Anthony Cirone of Briarwood Lane, who is a partner in the accounting firm, told P&Z members that the accounting firm would have 20 employees and the financial firm would have ten workers at the new building. Those 30 people would work on the upper level, with the ground level of the building leased out, he said.

It is unclear how the building that now houses the church would be used after the church moves to its new quarters, Mr Cirone said. The church has two years remaining on its lease, he said.

Architect Maura Newell, of Seventy Two Architects of Danbury, explained the new office building’s design to P&Z members. The structure would be set back 450 feet north of Mt Pleasant Road, she said.

The building would employ “green” design aspects to enhance efficiency. The structure would have a masonry and glass exterior. Glass would be emphasized on the upper level, with masonry and metal cladding displayed on the ground level.

Landscape architect Robert Sherwood described the landscaping design for the project. The two individual lots which contain the existing building and the proposed building cover about four acres. The proposed building would be constructed on a 2.8-acre lot. The existing is on a 1.2-acre lot.

The site would contain a total 153 parking spaces. Of that number, 93 spaces would be reserved for the proposed building, and 60 spaces designated for the existing building.

Traffic engineer Joe Balskus, of Tighe & Bond of Shelton, said the driveway entrance for the office building at Mt Pleasant Road would provide safe access to the site. There are good sight distances for motorists traveling in the area, he said. Mt Pleasant Road there has a 45-mph speed limit.

“The proposed development-generated traffic will not have a significant impact on the [traffic] operations at the studied intersection and roadway system,” according to the Tighe & Bond traffic report.

Mr Balskus said an additional traffic study would be performed if the building that now houses the church is proposed for a future retail use. The site is in a B-2 Business zone.

 During the public comment section of the hearing, resident Susan VonEggers, of 10 Franklin Court at the adjacent Liberty at Newtown condominium complex, asked why the applicant needs to create as much parking as has been proposed. Also, she asked whether the project would have any effect on the public water supply’s low water pressure in the area.

Mr Cirone responded that vehicle parking is intended for future growth at the site.

P&Z Chairman Lila Dean said the public hearing on the office building proposal would resume at a future session to give P&Z members time to consider the project’s traffic report.