Newtown Veterinary Hospital Gains P&Z Approval

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have approved the construction of Newtown Veterinary Hospital, a 16,502-square-foot single-story medical care facility for pet animals planned for a 3.2-acre site at 164 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6).

P&Z members unanimously approved the construction project at a February 18 session, after the applicant, Claris Construction, Inc, modified the project’s landscaping design at the P&Z’s request in order to preserve a number of mature specimen-grade trees on the site.

In their motion to approve the project, P&Z members placed certain requirements on their endorsement.

The P&Z is requiring that site development work not start until the applicant obtains a building permit and until the applicant has a site development plan, plus the funding required to proceed.

The landscaping design for the project, which is intended to preserve a number of notable mature trees on the property, must conform to the details of a landscaping design map submitted by the applicant.

Also, the developer must install a protective guardrail alongside the eastern side of the driveway extending from the front to the rear of the hospital.

P&Z members decided that the project is consistent with the terms of the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development. Also, the project meets the requirements for a special permit for commercial construction in a B-2 (Business) zone, P&Z members decided.

The construction approval that the P&Z granted on February 18 modifies the special permit that the P&Z had granted for the site in July 2009, which had approved the construction of a two-story, 28,380-square-foot mixed-use commercial building, including retail, office, and restaurant uses. That project, however, never materialized, being superseded by the veterinary hospital.

The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) on February 24 modified the wetlands permit that the IWC granted in February 2009 for the then-proposed mixed-use commercial building.

At the February 18 P&Z session before the P&Z approved the construction proposal, engineer John McCoy, of JFM Engineering, Inc, of Ridgefield, representing Claris Construction, explained various revisions that were made to the plans to preserve mature trees on the southern and northern sides of the site.

Previously proposed locations for some curbing and some silt-control fencing would be shifted, he said. Two “tree wells” would be created, he added. Such tree wells are boulder-lined protective devices created at the base of trees to protect the trees in areas where earthen grading occurs.

Mr McCoy explained that the plans for the project contain details concerning the steps that would be taken during construction to protect some mature trees on the property.

The applicant modified plans for the project in response to a January request from the P&Z that the firm not remove as many mature specimen-grade trees from the premises as had been earlier proposed.

The property is on the north side of Mt Pleasant Road, directly east of the driveway that leads to The Homesteads at Newtown assisted-living complex.

The site holds a vacant dilapidated single-family house, detached garage, and shed, all of which would be demolished to make way for new construction. The sloped site is wooded and has stone walls. Acme Realty of Scarsdale, N.Y., is listed the property’s owner.

Veterinary Hospital

The hospital would provide a range of health services for pet animals, such as dogs and cats. The facility would provide emergency pet care, surgery, internal medicine, and cancer treatment, plus laboratory services. The animal hospital would be open around-the-clock, seven days a week.

The 164 Mt Pleasant Road site marks the third local location that has been sought for a veterinary hospital by the people who would run the facility.

Two previous attempts to create such a facility in Sandy Hook Center and inside Woodbury Hall at Fairfield Hills failed to materialize.

In October 2008, the P&Z revised its zoning regulations to allow a multi-specialty veterinary hospital as a permitted land use at Fairfield Hills. But in November 2009, the Glen Mountain Holding Company, LLC, announced that it had failed to achieve financing for that project and had dropped plans for it.

Also, in June 2007, the P&Z had approved zoning rule changes that would have allowed a veterinary hospital as a permitted land use in the Sandy Hook Design District (SHDD) in Sandy Hook Center. But plans for that facility there fell through.

Scott Schifilliti and Debra Weisman would operate the veterinary hospital at 164 Mt Pleasant Road.

Mr Schifilliti told P&Z members in January that the area has many conventional veterinarians, but lacks sufficient veterinary surgical facilities. He explained that Dr Weisman, who is his wife, is a veterinary surgeon.