Plaza South—

Shopping Center Proposal Draws Continuing Opposition

By Andrew Gorosko

A Danbury developer’s controversial proposal to build a shopping center on South Main Street, near Cold Spring Road, drew continuing opposition at a February 3 Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing, spurring objections from the owners of the adjacent Sand Hill Plaza, as well as from nearby residents.

TP Properties, LLC, wants to build a 66,000-square-foot shopping center, marking what would be the largest retail complex to be built in Newtown in almost a decade.

The developer is proposing 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 sloped property is a former sand-and-gravel mine.

The proposal is the fourth version of the retail complex submitted by the developer for P&Z review. The developer has not disclosed what businesses would occupy the facility.

A somewhat larger Plaza South construction proposal, involving 70,000 square feet of enclosed space, was the subject of P&Z public hearings held in December and October.

At the December session, nearby residents concerned about the potential negative side effects of a shopping center had urged the P&Z to reject the application, and further urged the developer to scale down the plans to reduce a complex’s impact on the area.

In response to those criticisms, the developer reworked the plans. Those changes include reducing the size of the proposed shopping center from 70,000 to 66,000 square feet; increasing a visual buffer area between the proposed complex and Cold Spring Road, and relocating a proposed truck loading dock to an area lying farther away from Cold Spring Road than was previously proposed.

TP Properties, however, is not proposing creating an internal driveway link between Plaza South and Sand Hill Plaza. Also, the developer is not proposing providing access to Plaza South via Sand Hill Plaza’s two existing South Main Street driveways. 

At two past public hearings, nearby property owners and P&Z members had asked TP Properties to pursue creating an internal driveway that would link Plaza South to Sand Hill Plaza.

They also had asked TP Properties to pursue having traffic for Plaza South reach the facility from Sand Hill Plaza’s two existing South Main Street driveways, instead of having Plaza South create its own South Main Street driveway, across South Main Street from Button Shop Road.

The proposed intersection of Plaza South’s driveway, South Main Street, and Button Shop Road would be controlled by a traffic signal.

Attorney Ward Mazzucco, representing the developer, said that the $6,300 in annual real estate taxes now collected by the town on the 12.35-acre development site would increase to $170,000 annually if Plaza South is built. Such an increase in tax revenue would come without the need to provide many municipal services, he said. Also, Plaza South would provide residents with added shopping choices, Mr Mazzucco said.

Architect/engineer Peder Scott, representing the developer, explained how the project’s plans have been modified in response to past criticisms.

Landscape architect James DeLalla, representing the developer,  said the project would contain suitable vegetation on slopes. Some existing trees would be kept and some new trees would be added to the site, he said.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil said the town’s Design Advisory Board has reviewed TP Properties’ plans for the project, after which the developer agreed to meet many of the recommendations made by the design panel.

Mr Mazzucco noted that unless TP Properties is able to inform Sand Hill Plaza’s owners about which businesses would occupy Plaza South, Sand Hill Plaza’s owners would not consider creating an internal driveway connection linking Sand Hill Plaza to Plaza South. TP Properties does not know which businesses would occupy the proposed complex, Mr Mazzucco said.  

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.

In response to some nearby residents’ calls for the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of South Main Street and Cold Spring Road, traffic engineer Mark Davis, representing TP Properties, said that state traffic officials have informed him that a traffic signal there is “not warranted.”

Also, Mr Davis said state traffic officials do not believe there is a need to create a “right turn only” lane on the uphill section of southbound South Main Street approaching a Plaza South driveway.

Due to the long travel distances between the proposed traffic signal at the entrance to Plaza South and the two nearest existing traffic signals on South Main Street, state traffic officials do not consider it practical to synchronize the three traffic signals, Mr Davis said. Those two existing traffic signals are located at the northern entrance to Sand Hill Plaza, and also at the intersection of South Main Street, Meadow Brook Road, and Botsford Hill Road. 

Sand Hill Plaza Concerns

Attorney Keri Olson, representing Sand Hill Plaza, stressed that Sand Hill Plaza’s owners cannot decide whether to link that plaza with the proposed new plaza if they do not know which businesses would occupy the new plaza.

Engineer Daniel Stapleton, representing Sand Hill Plaza, said TP Properties has not presented the P&Z with enough technical information in support of its construction proposal.

Sand Hill Plaza, which lies downhill of the proposed Plaza South, must be sure that it would not be adversely affected by the new project, he said. Sand Hill Plaza’s owners do not want their property to become devalued, he said. Also, they do not want to have to make physical changes to their property to continue operating, he said.

Mr Stapleton questioned the practicality of the construction work proposed by TP Properties. More subsurface exploration should be performed to better learn of site conditions, he said.

Mr Stapleton said TP Properties has provided insufficient information about how it would control stormwater runoff from its site.

Also, Sand Hill Plaza’s owners are concerned that TP Properties might enlist a supermarket as a tenant at Plaza South, Mr Stapleton said.

Last April, P&Z members unanimously rejected a regulatory proposal from Mr Mazzucco to increase the maximum allowable size of new stores from the current limit of 40,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet.

Had the retail size limit been increased to 60,000 square feet, it would have opened the way for development applications from a class of merchants whose large stores have been excluded from town since 1996 due to store size restrictions. Mr Mazzucco had applied for that rule change on behalf of Plaza South.

Residents Respond

Nearby residents raised a host of concerns at the February 3 P&Z public hearing about the Plaza South proposal.

Charles Sarafian of 3 Washbrook Road told P&Z members that he represents about a dozen residents of Washbrook Road, Cold Spring Road, and Kay Lane. Mr Sarafian stressed that more than 75 are residents have signed petitions in opposition to Plaza South.

“We really are against this shopping center,” he said.

 Residents’ prime concern about such construction is that there be sufficient buffering between it and Cold Spring Road, he said. Existing buffering, in the form of mature trees, should be kept in place along Cold Spring Road, he said.

Mr Sarafian urged that the P&Z keep be mindful of the long-term needs of nearby residents in reviewing such a development proposal. 

The intersection of Cold Spring Road and South Main Street poses traffic problems for the motorists who use it, he said. Exiting from Cold Spring Road onto South Main Street is now controlled by a stop sign.

Mr Sarafian said he is concerned about the effect that blasting for shopping center construction would have on nearby domestic water wells. He urged that a well protection escrow account be set up to protect wells lying within 750 feet of the construction site.

P&Z member Sten Wilson urged that nearby residents with domestic water wells have their wells’ water quality and water quantity tested before any construction starts, in order to create a well performance reference point, in the event that wells are damaged by construction.

Suzanne Zimmerman of 20 Pine Tree Hill Road, representing the Middle Gate School Parent-Teacher Organization, said that the traffic study provided by the developer was insufficient and does not address school-related traffic in the area. Middle Gate School is on Cold Spring Road.

Parents are concerned about school bus traffic in the area, she said. “It’s a dangerous intersection,” she said of the junction of Cold Spring Road and South Main Street.

The presence of a new shopping center would compound traffic problems in the area, she said. Ms Zimmerman urged that a traffic signal be installed at that intersection. She also urged that traffic traveling to the proposed Plaza South reach it via Sand Hill Plaza’s two existing driveways.

Peter Vodola of 9 Meadow Woods Lane, who has a child attending Middle Gate School, said that the Cold Spring-South Main junction “is already a dangerous intersection.”

Mr Vodola suggested that either a conventional red-yellow-green traffic signal, a caution blinker, or a traffic agent be used there for travel safety.

John Burke of 45 Cold Spring Road said Cold Spring Road is a “country road” and its residents want it to remain that way. The Plaza South construction proposal does not contain enough visual buffering for Cold Spring Road, he said.

Rita Boesch of 35 Cold Spring Road said that existing mature trees along Cold Spring Road should be kept in place to serve as a buffer. The proposed shopping center is too large, she added.

When the P&Z reviews such development proposals, the interests of residents should be considered equally with the interests of developers, she said.

P&Z members continued the public hearing to a future session, at which they will receive technical information on the application, including a state traffic report.