P&Z Urges Driveway Link to Adjacent Site—

Sand Hill Plaza Seeks Mini-Mall Changes

By Andrew Gorosko

Sand Hill Plaza, the town’s largest shopping center, is seeking Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approval to reconfigure a portion of its mini-mall wing to allow additional retail uses of that space.

On March 30, P&Z members held a public hearing on E&A/I&G Sand Hill Plaza, LP’s, request to modify its existing special permit to allow the firm to increase the leasable area of the existing shopping center by approximately 3,765 square feet. The plaza’s overall area is approximately 163,500 square feet. The proposed changes would involve modifying existing enclosed space, not constructing additional space at the 228 South Main Street facility.

The P&Z public hearing on the application is slated to resume on May 4.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Sand Hill Plaza, said the plaza wants to modify some space at its mini-mall to make better use of its facility.

Among the proposed changes, the TJ Maxx store would expand in size. The Sleepy’s mattress shop would move to the mini-mall from another location at the plaza. Also, a Panera Bread shop would move to the area now occupied by the United Parcel Service store. A real estate firm and a day spa would remain in place at the plaza, Mr Hall said.

The existing mini-mall area would become a corridor among various businesses.

Also, the Panera Bread shop would have an adjacent patio constructed for outdoor dining, Mr Hall said. The size of such a patio is unclear, he said.

P&Z Chairman William O’Neil pointed out that in April 2005, when the P&Z approved the construction of Plaza South, a 68,000-square-foot shopping center planned for a site directly south of Sand Hill Plaza, the P&Z strongly recommended that Sand Hill Plaza and Plaza South create a driveway link between the two shopping centers to relieve some traffic pressure on the congested South Main Street.

The owners of Sand Hill Plaza and the planned Plaza South should meet to decide where to construct such a driveway link, Mr O’Neil said. The P&Z chairman recommended that Sand Hill Plaza’s current application indicate such a driveway’s location.

Mr Hall pointed out, however, that the zoning regulations do not require such a driveway connection linking the adjacent commercial properties.

P&Z member Lilla Dean noted that the P&Z is formulating such zoning regulations.

Mr Hall suggested that the P&Z address the matter when the Plaza South complex is developed. 

“We’d like to coordinate these two projects,” said P&Z member Jane Brymer.

Keith Hague, the project manager for Sand Hill Plaza’s mini-mall reconfiguration application, said that a driveway connector between the two retail complexes could come when Sand Hill Plaza eventually expands in size.

Ms Dean said, “We see a huge potential problem here….Route 25 [South Main Street] is not getting widened.” Of a driveway linkage, she added, “We know we can’t make you do it…We hope your judgment will let you do it.”

Mr Hall said that Sand Hill Plaza is willing to talk to Plaza South about the possible location of a driveway connector.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland urged that the Sand Hill Plaza application include a design drawing indicating the location for a driveway connector. “It’s common sense,” he said.

Mr Hague said, though, that it remains unclear what businesses would locate at Plaza South.

Mr O’Neil urged that the complexes reach some agreement about where a driveway connection between the two facilities would be built.

Sand Hill Plaza, which has been in operation for more than 15 years, has a Super Stop & Shop supermarket as its prime tenant.

Resident Mary Curran of 41 Cold Spring Road said constructing a driveway link between Sand Hill Plaza and the planned Plaza South is a “safety issue.” She asked why the P&Z cannot simply require such a connector.

Plaza South is expected to return to the P&Z seeking a reconfiguration of its plans that were approved last year. Those design changes would alter the layout of the planned complex. 

In April 2005, following a six-month review of repeatedly revised development proposals, the P&Z  approved construction of Plaza South, which would be the largest such facility to be built in Newtown in a decade.

TP Properties, LLC, of Danbury plans to build a complex. The developer plans 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 wooded, sloped property is a former sand-and-gravel mine.

The planned intersection of Plaza South’s driveway, South Main Street, and Button Shop Road would be controlled by a new four-way traffic signal. Button Shop Road links South Main Street to Toddy Hill Road.