Redevelopment Project—

Former Factory To Become Retail Center

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have unanimously approved a developer’s proposal to convert the vacant former Newtown Manufacturing Company factory at 255-259 South Main into a retail center, which is planned to include a full-service restaurant, sandwich shop, ice cream shop, and a bank.

At a July 27 session, P&Z members voted to approve the project for Worldwide Properties, LLC, of Bridgeport, represented by Joseph Voll of Monroe. Voting in favor of the project were P&Z Chairman William O’Neil, Lilla Dean, and Jane Brymer.

The P&Z granted the developer a special exception to the zoning regulations to convert the former factory into a “shopping center,” which is a land use that is allowed in a M-6 (Industrial) zone.

The 10.2-acre site lies on the east side of South Main Street, opposite the southern entrance to Sand Hill Plaza.

The site is in the town’s Aquifer Protection District (APD), where environmental restrictions are in force. The Conservation Commission has determined that the project would have no significant impact on the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer.

The redevelopment plan calls for adding a large porch and a covered walkway to the 12,360-square-foot factory building, thus increasing the structure’s overall roof area to 16,015 square feet.

The P&Z’s July 27 approval of the conversion project came following the conclusion of a public hearing on the project.

The P&Z set many conditions on its approval for the retail center.

Before the developer receives a building permit for any excavation on the property or for site development work, it must provide the P&Z with a state Department of Transportation (DOT) permit for driveways and for any improvements would be made on adjacent South Main Street. South Main Street (Route 25) is a state road.

The developer also must provide the P&Z with a copy of its state permit for a septic waste disposal system for the retail center.

Also, Worldwide Properties must provide the town with a performance bond for the excavation, relocation, and storage of earthen materials on the site and on an adjacent site. The retail center project will require extensive regrading to create a parking area where a steep embankment now stands.

Because the APD environmental regulations prohibit earthen materials from being moved from the site, the material would be repositioned elsewhere on the property. Approximately 52,000 cubic yards of earthen material would be repositioned on the site.

Both performance bonds and maintenance bonds will be required for the installation and upkeep of landscaping features.

Upgraded landscaping plans for areas where earthen materials will be excavated and stored must be provided.

Aquifer Protection

Before the town allows the premises to be used, it must receive a written aquifer protection policy specifying how the underlying Pootatuck Aquifer will be protected from contamination. United Water’s wellfield for the local public water supply lies several hundred yards north of the site.

That policy must address interior operations, exterior grounds maintenance, and emergency procedures on how to clean up hazardous materials spills. The policy must be posted and readily available to people at the site.

The P&Z is banning the outdoor storage of commercial vehicles and construction equipment on the site. Maintenance of such vehicles is prohibited on the site.

Also, the P&Z is prohibiting any land uses on the site that are excluded from the APD. 

The P&Z also is requiring the septic system and stormwater control system to be properly built and maintained.

Other P&Z requirements concern commercial signage and the general appearance of the building to be converted from a factory to retail center. The town’s Design Advisory Board made various recommendations on the project’s appearance, which the developer incorporated into the final design.  

During a July 7 public hearing on the project, P&Z member Richard Eigen had expressed concerns about the project’s traffic impact on the congested South Main Street.

At that time, P&Z member Robert Mulholland said northbound vehicles entering the property could create traffic hazards.

Sansalvo Engineering, LLC, of Wethersfield performed a traffic study on the proposed shopping center for Worldwide Properties.

According to that report, “The proposed redevelopment…should not adversely affect the pattern, flow, intensity or character of traffic conditions in the vicinity of the site, or produce unsafe or inconvenient traffic congestion…Traffic should not be a significant issue in the redevelopment of the parcel.”

The Newtown Manufacturing Company factory, which will now be converted for retail use, closed for business in the summer of 2000. The screw machine parts manufacturing firm was purchased by the Iseli Company and was then moved to other facilities in Terryville.

Other than some incidental uses, the South Main Street factory building has been vacant for the past five years. The World Help Foundation, a charitable organization, occupied a section of the building for a time.

In April, P&Z members approved another shopping center near the Newtown Manufacturing Company site.

TP Properties, LLC, of Danbury plans to build the 68,000-square-foot Plaza South complex, including a 64,000-square-foot main building, containing several unspecified tenants, plus a 4,000-square-foot adjacent building containing a bank.

That construction is planned for 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.

The Plaza South site lies diagonally across South Main Street from the Newtown Manufacturing Company site.

The adjacent 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.