Date: Fri 27-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Botsford-Post-Office

Full Text:

P&Z Considers Plan For New Botsford Post Office

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are considering the proposed

construction of a new Botsford post office at the intersection of Botsford

Hill Road and South Main Street.

The postal substation would replace the outmoded Botsford facility on South

Main Street, just north of Blue Spruce Drive.

P&Z members have asked Town Engineer Ronald Bolmer and Fire Marshal George

Lockwood to review revised plans for the construction project. P&Z members are

scheduled to again review the proposal when they meet December 3 at 7:30 pm at

Canaan House at Fairfield Hills.

Applicants John and Nanci Kalas of 6 Avalon Way propose construction of a

2,900-square-foot post office on a 3.1-acre parcel on the northeast corner of

Botsford Hill Road and South Main Street. The land lies in B-1 and R-« zones.

The vacant property at the busy intersection is currently covered with dense

brush and small trees.

The post office would have 24 parking spaces. Postal patrons would have access

to the facility from a driveway off Botsford Hill Road, about 320 feet east of

the intersection of Botsford Hill Road and South Main Street.

The applicants state they anticipate the presence of a new post office would

have no adverse effect on property values in the neighborhood.

There would be a maximum seven employees in the post office. Landscape

plantings would include maple, azalea, white pine, and Bradford pear.

Engineer Larry Edwards is the applicants' agent before the P&Z.

I.K. Chann Associates, of Wilton, a traffic engineering firm, analyzed how a

new post office would affect traffic flow in the area.

"The proposed post office building can be very satisfactorily accommodated in

terms of traffic operations and safety, and will have no adverse impact on

Botsford Hill Road and the nearby Route 25/Botsford Hill Road/Meadow Brook

Road intersection," Mr Chann wrote in his traffic analysis.

A four-way, red-yellow-green traffic signal was installed at the intersection

several years ago to better regulate traffic flow the heavily-traveled area.

State Department of Transportation (DOT) traffic counts performed at the

intersection in 1995 show that South Main Street carries 16,400 vehicles daily

and Botsford Hill Road carries 3,800 vehicles daily, according to Chann.

A new post office would generate approximately the same number by vehicle

trips daily as the existing post office, according to the traffic engineer.

The existing post office receives about 48 vehicle trips during the peak

morning traffic hour and about 97 vehicle trips during the peak afternoon

traffic hour, according to the traffic report.

Motorists at the proposed post office's driveway would have "excellent" sight

lines toward oncoming traffic, according to Chann.