P&Z Approves Plaza South For South Main Street

By Andrew Gorosko

Following a six-month review of a repeatedly revised development proposal, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have unanimously approved construction of Plaza South, a planned 68,000-square-foot shopping center on South Main Street, which will be the largest such facility to be built in Newtown in nearly a decade.

The once-controversial development proposal had drawn opposition from the owners of the adjacent Sand Hill Plaza, as well as nearby residents.

Voting in favor of the project at an April 21 P&Z session were members Sten Wilson, Lilla Dean, Robert Poulin, Edward Kelleher, and Robert Mulholland. The developer received a special exception to the zoning regulations to build the complex.

The P&Z approval, however, specifies many conditions, which have evolved since last October, stemming from concerns expressed over traffic flow, public safety, environmental protection, aesthetics, and business competition.

Although the project received the P&Z’s unanimous approval, several P&Z members expressed concerns about vehicle access to the site stemming from the shopping center’s planned South Main Street (Route 25) entrance.  

TP Properties, LLC, of Danbury plans to build a complex including a 64,000-square-foot main building, containing several unspecified tenants, plus a 4,000-square-foot adjacent building containing a bank.

The developer plans construction of Plaza South at 266-276 South Main Street, on the west side of that street, in the area lying between Sand Hill Plaza and Cold Spring Road. The 12.35-acre site has M-6 (Industrial) zoning. The wooded, sloped property is a former sand-and-gravel mine.

The planned intersection of Plaza South’s driveway, South Main Street, and Button Shop Road would be controlled by a four-way traffic signal. Button Shop Road links South Main Street to Toddy Hill Road.

Attorney Ward Mazzucco, who represents TP Properties, said April 21 the developer will be seeking tenants to occupy the shopping center. The lawyer said it remains unclear which businesses will occupy the facility. Plans for the project submitted to the P&Z indicate several unspecified businesses occupying the main 64,000-square-foot structure.

In early 2004, Mr Mazzucco, on behalf of TP Properties, had sought to revise the zoning regulations regarding store sizes in order to allow individual stores within shopping centers to occupy up to 60,000 square feet of floor space.

P&Z members, however, rejected that request, letting stand an existing 40,000-square-foot size limit on individual stores within shopping centers. P&Z members had approved that 40,000-square-foot size limit in 1996, a move that has deterred certain large retailers from seeking local quarters.

Mr Mazzucco said that when in full operation, Plaza South would generate an estimated $170,000 in annual property tax revenue.

If the remaining required development approvals proceed smoothly, Plaza South may be open for business as soon as the spring of 2006, Mr Mazzucco said. TP Properties hopes to start construction work by late this summer, he said.

The developer has effectively dealt with the many issues that arose during the P&Z’s review of the project, Mr Mazzucco added. The P&Z’s construction approval takes effect May 2.

Conditions Of Approval

The P&Z specified 13 basic conditions of approval, plus a variety of subconditions, in granting TP Properties permission to build the shopping center.

The developer will be required to obtain a certificate from the State Traffic Commission for various planned improvements to South Main Street and the shopping center driveway.

Also, the developer must obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a large-scale septic waste disposal system.

The P&Z must receive performance bonding in the amount of $51,300 for the developer’s roadway and drainage improvements to the adjacent Cold Spring Road and Bryan Lane.

Also, TP Properties must submit a performance bond for extensive landscaping on the site.

The developer must submit engineer-certified designs for the construction of retaining walls, which will be needed to stabilize the sloped property.

In the event that “excessive [water] discharge” occurs from the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer as a result of site development, the developer must immediately notify the town of the problem and must also determine the best way to handle the problem. A solution might include the installation of drywells or infiltration beds to return that clean water seepage back into the aquifer, rather than to the stormwater drainage system.

The development site lies atop the Pootatuck Aquifer, which is United Water Company’s source for the town’s central public drinking water supply. United Water has determined that developing the Plaza South site would not pose threats to the public water supply.

The water company’s wellfield is on the east side of South Main Street, across South Main Street from the northern entrance to Sand Hill Plaza. The water company supplies drinking water to central Newtown, as well as along water lines extending northward into Hawleyville and southward toward Botsford.

Because the site lies within the town’s environmentally sensitive Aquifer Protection District (APD), the developer must file an aquifer protection policy with the town specifying methods and techniques that would be used to protect the aquifer’s water quality in the event of a contaminant spill.

Because the site is in the APD, the permanent outdoor storage and maintenance of commercial vehicles and construction equipment is prohibited.

The P&Z also is requiring the developer to periodically report on the functioning of the site’s septic system and stormwater drainage system.

If the state Department of Transportation (DOT) approves installation of a proposed set of flashing signs indicating a reduced speed limit on South Main Street during school hours, the developer must cover those sign installation costs, according to the P&Z.

Middle Gate School, a public elementary school, is located on nearby Cold Spring Road.

In its approval for Plaza South, the P&Z prohibits the presence of: any grocery store; any food preparation business that exceeds 2,000 square feet in floor area; and any business that would discharge more than 2,000 gallons of wastewater daily.

Also, the P&Z is requiring the developer to pursue negotiations with the adjacent Sand Hill Plaza for the construction of an internal driveway that would link the two shopping centers. Plaza South must update the P&Z on the status of such negotiations by May 2007.

The approximately 160,000-square-foot Sand Hill Plaza, which has been in operation for about 15 years, has a Super Stop & Shop supermarket as its prime tenant.

Attorney Keri Olson, representing Sand Hill Plaza, has said that Sand Hill Plaza is willing in the future to discuss a possible driveway interconnection between Sand Hill Plaza and Plaza South, after it is known which businesses would occupy Plaza South.

Some P&Z members have urged that the two shopping centers be interconnected by an internal driveway to reduce traffic pressure on South Main Street.