Marcus Dairy—

P&Z Reviews Proposed Warehouse/Office Complex

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are reviewing an approximately $4.5 million development proposal from Marcus Dairy of Danbury, which would move that firm’s dairy distribution business and corporate office space from Danbury to an 8.6-acre site in a M-5 (Industrial) zone at 352 South Main Street in Botsford, on the Monroe town line.

 Marcus Dairy representatives presented their application for a special zoning permit for the project at a December 4 P&Z public hearing. The P&Z took no action on the application. The P&Z public hearing on the proposal is scheduled to resume on January 22.

The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) was slated to consider the wetlands protection aspects of the development application at a December 10 session.

Sean Marcus, the firm’s warehouse operations manager, said this week that Marcus Dairy proposes using approximately 33,200 square feet of space overall at the 352 South Main Street site. That space would be in the form of a new 16,200-square-foot refrigerated warehouse for dairy products, as well as 17,000 square feet of existing, renovated enclosed space on the site.

Existing businesses at the site would leave to make way for Marcus Dairy. The site holds a cellular telecommunications tower.

An existing concrete batching tower on the site would be demolished. That device was used by Monroe Concrete, which formerly did business at the property.

The South Main Street warehouse would hold dairy products for distribution in the region, corporate office space for the firm, as well as facilities for the firm’s fleet of trucks, Mr Marcus said. Approximately 70 Marcus Dairy employees would be based at the South Main Street facility, he said.

Marcus Dairy delivers dairy products across a wide area, he said, ranging from New York City to the south, Springfield, Mass., to the north, Middletown, N.Y., to the west, and the Connecticut River to the east. The firm has more than 25 trucks.

Besides commercial and institutional accounts, the firm provides home delivery of its dairy products.

Although formerly in the milk processing business, the firm is no longer in that aspect of the dairy industry, Mr Marcus said. The South Main Street site would not have a retail component.

After moving its warehousing and office space to Newtown, the firm would demolish its existing warehouse facilities on Sugar Hollow Road in Danbury and redevelop that site with a shopping center known as The Shops at Marcus Dairy, Mr Marcus said. Also, the firm would continue to operate its existing 100-seat dairy bar/restaurant in Danbury, he said.

Mr Marcus said the firm would like to start construction of its new facilities in February, provided that it receives the required town approvals by then. Construction is estimated to take less than six months to complete, he said.

“We felt that Newtown was the most centrally located…for our customers,” Mr Marcus said of the firm’s proposal to base its operations here. “We think it’s a great location,” he said.

The firm wants to build an attractive facility at the site considering that it is located at one of the “gateways” to Newtown, he said.

Marcus Dairy was unable to find a suitable site in Danbury for its project, he said. The company also had considered locating its new facilities in New York State, or at sites on Peck’s Lane in Newtown, he said. The firm does as much business in New York as it does in Connecticut, he noted.

Public Hearing

At the December 4 P&Z public hearing, Claris Construction, Inc, of Newtown, which is the applicant of record for current property owner Andrew Julian of West Haven, presented developmental details of the project to P&Z members.

Civil engineer Bill Carboni of Spath-Bjorklund Associates, representing the applicant, said that vegetation would be cleared away from along South Main Street at the site to provide better sight lines for drivers exiting the site. The existing driveway entrance at the site would be narrowed to better align it with Swamp Road, which lies across South Main Street from the property.

P&Z member Richard English noted that the driveway’s location at 352 South Main Street makes for a difficult vehicular exit from the property.

Marcus Dairy’s tractor-trailer trucks and smaller trucks would be using the site, Mr Carboni said. The tractor-trailer trucks would deliver milk to the warehouse, and then the smaller trucks would deliver that milk to various locations in the firm’s distribution area, he said.

Architect Philip Clark of Claris Construction described the architectural aspects of the project to P&Z members. The project would be a clean, uniform-looking facility, he said. Basic truck maintenance would be performed at the property, he said.

The site would conform with the Dark Sky lighting standards, which limit nighttime light spillage from the site, he said.

 Mr Carboni stressed that the site would have no retail aspect, no dairy bar/restaurant open to the public, and no motorcyclists using it as a gathering place. Marcus Dairy in Danbury is a favored gathering place for motorcyclists.

The South Main Street warehouse would require the presence of some outdoor compressors for the refrigeration equipment, Mr Marcus said.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean asked that the applicant provide the P&Z with technical information on the sound levels that would be created by the equipment.

Public Comment

During the public comment section of the hearing, resident Rose DeSimone of 351 South Main Street said that her house would be overlooking the compressors used at the warehouse complex. She said she is concerned about the effect of multiple trucks leaving the site. There have been many motor vehicle accidents in the area, she said.

“It’s a very, very dangerous curve,” she said.

Tractor-trailer trucks tend to be very loud when they are leaving the property, she said.

“I’m just so close to it…The noise level is going to be a problem,” she said. Conditions would be noisy when her family is sleeping, she said. “I’m extremely concerned about additional noise,” she said.

Also, traffic would cause air pollution, she said.

Resident Paul McMillan of 351 South Main Street said he is concerned about the prospect of increased truck noise in the area. Additional traffic flow also poses concerns, he said.

Mr McMillan said the prospect of tractor-trailer trucks exiting the site would pose safety hazards when considering the traffic that would be approaching the site on the heavily traveled South Main Street.

Ms Dean noted that many concrete trucks formerly exited the site when it was used by Monroe Concrete. “The traffic on Route 25 [South Main Street] is awful,” Ms Dean acknowledged.

 The applicant presented the traffic aspects of the plan to the Police Commission for its review on December 2. The Police Commission is the town’s traffic authority. Police Commission members did not object to traffic aspects of the project.