P&Z Has Mixed Reactions To Industrial Zone Change Requests

By Andrew Gorosko

In reviewing two requests for adjacent industrial changes of zone near Church Hill Road, Planning and Zoning Commission members have approved one zone change application, but have rejected the other.

On October 6, P&Z members approved a requested change of zone from Industrial M-2 to Industrial M-5 submitted by 5-K Enterprises, Inc, for a 27-acre parcel with a street address of 71 Church Hill Road. 5-K wants to build a large industrial complex at the site, which would have access from Edmond Road.

The currently undeveloped site would have access from Edmond Road, which is a private road.

Also, P&Z members rejected a requested change of zone from Industrial M-2 to Industrial M-5 from American Wire Corporation for a five-acre parcel located at 1 Wire Road.

The 5-K Enterprises parcel and the American Wire parcel abut one another.

Converting the zoning designation from M-2 to M-5 increases the number of uses that would be allowed on a property, adding retail sales a permitted use.

P&Z members approved the 5-K application in a 4-to-0 vote.

In its motion to approve the change of zone, P&Z members found that the site has been the subject of several past development proposals, none of which have ever materialized. “The commission is confident that the zone change is necessary to provide desired economic development of the…land,” the P&Z found.

Also, P&Z members decided that the change of zone will encourage economic development that is consistent with a long-term plan for the realignment of Edmond Road and Commerce Road intended to improve hazardous traffic conditions in the vicinity of the existing Edmond Road/Church Hill Road intersection.

Future plans call for the realignment of the southern end of Edmond Road, so that it forms a four-way intersection with Church Hill Road and Commerce Road. The town would need to accept Edmond Road as a public road before such an intersection realignment could occur.

In approving the zone change request, P&Z members also found that the request is consistent with the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development.

At a September P&Z public hearing, 5-K Enterprises requested a change of zone for the site for a variety of industrial uses, such as construction equipment storage and/or sales, and possibly a plumbing supply business.

The site is on the west side of Edmond Road. The property lies in a wooded area behind the Newtown Shell Service gas station at 67 Church Hill Road.

5-K Enterprises, Inc, is a Connecticut corporation whose shareholders are Warren Kimball and his five children. 5-K has a purchase option to buy the Edmond Road site from current owners Harriet B. Edwards, Trustee, and Reid S. and Nancy C. Barker Family Limited Partnership.

5-K proposes constructing almost 180,000 square feet of industrial space in four buildings off Edmond Road for the storage of construction equipment, warehousing, office space, and possible retail uses. M-5 zoning is more liberal in its uses than M-2 zoning, allowing more potential uses for the site, such as retail sales.

The four proposed buildings would hold a combined 179,625 square feet of enclosed space. The sizes of the four proposed structures are 91,875 sf, 37,500 sf, 35,250 sf, and 15,000 sf.

Such an Edmond Road warehouse/industrial complex would be constructed in two phases during a five-year period.

5-K Enterprises is seeking a wetlands permit for the project on the wet site from the Conservation Commission, serving as the town’s wetlands protection agency.

The largest usable area on the 27-acre site is directly east of the Housatonic Railroad’s train tracks. The site holds extensive wetlands and steep slopes, posing developmental constraints. Also, the site’s lack of suitable road frontage poses difficulties in creating an industrial subdivision within an M-5 zone.

American Wire

At the October 6 session, P&Z members rejected American Wire’s requested change of zone in a 4-to-1 vote, with member Lilla Dean dissenting.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil said the applicant at a September public hearing provided no reason for seeking a change of zone.

The applicant probably does not specifically know what it wants to do with the property if the zoning is changed, Ms Dean said.

P&Z member Edward Kelleher said applicants need to provide the P&Z with a reason for seeking a change of zone.

The five-acre site that was the subject of the zone change request is currently the production, storage, and office facilities for American Wire.

In its motion to reject the zone change application, P&Z members decided that the applicant did not provide a compelling reason for the need to change the site’s zoning designation.

At a September public hearing on the zone change request, an attorney representing American Wire declined to say why the firm wants a zone change, other than to say the company wants to create “a more productive use of the property.”