Near Exit 10—

P&Z Considers Retail/Office Building For Church Hill Road

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are reviewing a proposal to construct a 6,600-square-foot retail/office building on Church Hill Road, near Exit 10 of Interstate 84.

Tom Brook, LLC, proposes the two-story Colonial-style structure for 75-77 Church Hill Road, across that street from the Blue Colony Diner and Newtown Mobil. The applicant is seeking a site development plan approval from the P&Z.

The ground level of the proposed building would hold store space, with the upper level containing offices. The long-vacant lot where the retail/office building would be constructed formerly held a dry cleaning shop known as Highway Cleaners.

The P&Z conducted a public hearing on the development application on April 5.

Attorney Bill Denlinger, representing the developer, told P&Z members that the applicant has received three zoning variances from the Zoning Board Appeals (ZBA) for the project, as well as a wetlands approval from the Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC). The Police Commission, acting as the town traffic authority, also has reviewed the traffic aspects of the project, he said.

“This property will support what we want to do and is a good idea for the Town of Newtown,” Mr Denlinger said.

The presence of Tom Brook and associated wetlands, just north of the construction site, limits how the property can be developed, Mr Denlinger said. Also, there are residual amounts of dry cleaning chemicals present in the soil on the site stemming from its past use, he said.

The applicant would be careful in developing the site considering the soil conditions, he said. Those chemicals’ presence would be periodically monitored after the building is constructed, he said.

Gordon Anderson of 2 Glenmor Drive, who is one of the partners in the development application, said a chemical monitoring system would be established for the site. The results of that monitoring would be reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), he added.

Engineer James Palmer, representing the applicant, said the site would hold parking spaces for 33 vehicles. 

Architect Cris Busnel, representing Tom Brook, LLC, said the two-story Colonial-style building would have painted clapboards. The structure’s presence would provide motorists leaving eastbound Interstate 84’s Exit 10 off-ramp with “a really fantastic view,” Mr Busnel said.

The structure would have an unfinished basement. The developers are considering whether to include an elevator in the project, he said.

Mr Anderson told P&Z members the building could hold between four and six commercial tenants. The structure could be configured to hold as many as three tenants per level.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland said that considering the site’s location, there would be much traffic pulling in and out of the parking lot in a hazardous traffic area. The site is on the eastern corner of Church Hill Road and Edmond Road. The site lies across Edmond Road from Newtown Shell Service.

“It’s awful all along that stretch of road,” P&Z member Lilla Dean said of the heavy traffic on Church Hill Road in the area.

The site lies across Church Hill Road from the driveways for the Blue Colony Diner and Newtown Mobil, both of which carry much traffic, Mr Mulholland said.

Mr Denlinger responded that the developer discussed the traffic situation in the area with state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials and was not required by DOT to perform a new traffic study. Traffic flow on Church Hill Road, which is a state road, has been thoroughly studied in the past.

Long-term state plans call for moving the southern section of Edmond Road westward to create a four-way intersection of Edmond Road, Commerce Road, and Church Hill Road. That road realignment is intended to relieve hazardous traffic conditions in the vicinity of the existing Edmond Road/Church Hill Road intersection.

P&Z members closed the public hearing on the retail/office building application on April 5. They are expected to act on the proposal at an upcoming session.