Date: Fri 02-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Borough-zoning-Kasper-shopping

Full Text:

Shopping Center Development Plan Gets Borough Zoning Approval

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Having gained Borough Zoning Commission approval for an expanded and renovated

Newtown Shopping Center on Queen Street, The Kasper Group plans to start work

on the project in six to eight weeks.

The first phase of the project will include construction of a Big Y

supermarket, which the developer said he hopes to complete by December.

Joseph Kasper, president of The Kasper Group, said Tuesday he plans to

redevelop the shopping center to economically revitalize and beautify the

central business district. Mr Kasper said the value of the project is

approximately $17.5 million when real estate value is included.

Borough Zoning Commission members approved the redevelopment proposal in a

unanimous 5-to-0 vote after an almost four-hour session Tuesday night. Voting

in favor of a special exception to the borough zoning regulations and also in

favor of the site development plan were Chairman Robert Connor and members

Gregory O'Brien, Robert Klein, Edmund Breitling and Eugene Previdi.

Most residents who spoke on the proposal at the public hearing voiced support

for the project. Howver, some said they fear that an expanded shopping center

will generate more traffic on streets in the town center, and especially on

the heavily-traveled Church Hill Road, posing yet more traffic congestion

problems there. About 50 people attended the meeting.

In presenting his proposal to the borough zoners, Mr Kasper said "We're very

pleased and proud of the plans we've developed... We're very comfortable with

the solution to this piece of property."

The developer explained that besides the 1.4 acres that he's dedicated as

perpetual open space land in the area between the rear of the planned Big Y

supermarket and the rear lots of properties on the east side of Main Street,

an additional 3.2 acres in the area between the southern end of the shopping

center and Glover Avenue will also be dedicated as open space. The

reservations of land provide a privacy buffer for residents of Main Street and

Glover Avenue, he said.

"Parking should be quite convenient and accessible" at the shopping center, Mr

Kasper said. Approximately 570 parking spaces will be provided for the

completed project. There are about 300 spaces now. While parking lot lighting

will be sufficient, it will be directed downward toward the lot to minimize

distractions to nearby residents, according to Mr Kasper.

"We've had a history of problems with loitering and harassment of some of our

patrons at the shopping center," the developer noted. To remedy the problem,

security personnel will be on duty there 24 hours per day, he said. The Big Y,

however, won't operate on a 24-hour-per-day basis for the forseeable future,

he said. The Big Y hours on Mondays through Saturdays probably will be 6 am to

11 pm, with some Sunday hours also scheduled, he said.

The shopping center will be built in two phases, the first of which involves

constructing the Big Y supermarket, demolishing the southern section of the

main building at the site, and relocating current shopping center tenants into

other existing spaces at the center.

The second construction phase involves constructing a store space extension on

the northern end of the main building.

After municipal sanitary sewers are available in late 1997, the shopping

center's waste disposal will be converted from holding tanks to sewer lines.

"We're trying to develop an eclectic look of a New England village," Mr Kasper

said of architectural plans for the commercial development. The buildings will

be done in brick and will have dormer roofs as design elements, he said.

The project is designed to add roughly 60,000 square feet of retail space to

the site, bringing the total store space there up to almost 115,000 square

feet.

Traffic Plans

George Wallace, a traffic engineer for the developer, said a traffic signal

planned for the four-way intersection near the former post office will be

sychronized with the traffic signal at the intersection of Queen Street and

Church Hill Road to regulate traffic flow in the area.

Elizabeth Geerer of 25 Queen Street questioned whether the project wouldn't

compound existing traffic problems in the town center. She said truck traffic

over Queen Street would increase.

Erin Quinlan of 12 The Boulevard said area residents worked hard to get a "No

Turn On Red" sign posted on the Queen Street/Church Hill Road traffic signal.

The sign is intended for northbound traffic on Queen Street which is turning

onto eastbound Church Hill Road. Residents sought that sign to create "gaps"

in the eastbound traffic flow on Church Hill Road to make it easier for

southbound motorists on The Boulevard to turn left onto eastbound Church Hill

Road.

William Colbert of 19 Church Hill Road said the planned development will make

it very difficult to drive out onto Church Hill Road at certain times of the

day. He said he's concerned about bigger traffic buildups forming on eastbound

Church Hill Road.

Public Comments

William Meyer of Mt Pleasant Road spoke in favor of the shopping center

project, but urged Mr Kasper to maintain the property better in the future.

Michael Snyder of 8 Megans Circle, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of

Newtown, said of the shopping center proposal "This will enhance the retail

character of the town" and increase local economic development.

In endorsing the development project, John Tambascio, of My Place Restuarant

in the shopping center, said an improved shopping center will mean that more

Newtowners will stay in Newtown for grocery shopping.

George Wakelee, the owner of 12 Queen Street, said "I think Mr Kasper's

proposal will help the center of Newtown immeasurably."

James Gaston of 18 Main Street said the project will enhance the town center

while protecting 11 properties on Main Street and Glover Avenue through its

open space agreements.

Ms Geerer told Mr Kasper "I...think it's very attractive, and I see a lot of

the concessions you've made." She said she hopes the developers adhere to

their landscaping plans and wished Mr Kasper good luck in getting the project

done.

Tammara McMahon of West Street asked Mr Kasper if a supermarket the size of

the planned 56,000-square-foot Big Y can be economically sustained.

Mr Kasper said he bases his decision to build such a facility on Big Y's

expertise in the supermarket industry. Big Y Foods, Inc, agreed to a 20-year

lease for a supermarket building, with options to extend the term of the lease

to 40 years, he said.

Ms McMahon asked what effect the opening of a Big Y will have on the nearby

Grand Union supermarket. "It's like closing doors on one side and opening them

on the other," she said.

If the Grand Union should close, then the space which now holds the Grand

Union could be used by some other business, Mr Kasper said. The Grand Union

Corporation is in bankruptcy proceedings.

"This will become a center of commerce," after Newtown Shopping Center is

expanded and has about 18 tenants in it, Mr Kasper said. The development firm

is negotiating to have an unidentified national company occupy a large store

in the facility, he said.

Tom Johnson, the owner of Lexington Gardens, said he favors the shopping

center plans, but voiced reservations about southbound traffic on Church Hill

Road becoming heavier and harder to travel through after the shopping center

is expanded. It has become difficult for motorists to drive out of Lexington

Gardens' driveway, he said.

Mr Wallace, the traffic engineer for The Kasper Group, said the State Traffic

Conmmission will review the developer's traffic planning in determining what

makes for an acceptable traffic flow design.

Mr Colbert then asked whether Mr Kasper's plan for the site is too big for the

property. "I question the size of the project" in terms of creating traffic

problems, Mr Colbert said.

"This is not overdevelopment," Mr Kasper responded, noting the project meets

the borough's zoning rules.

Mr Klein, the borough zoner, observed that Church Hill Road has "impossible

traffic" which poses problems for businesses on it and motorists seeking to

enter that road from The Boulevard.

Mr Kasper said he'd be willing to cooperate with the first selectman in

seeking to have a traffic signal installed at the intersection of The

Boulevard and Church Hill Road to improve traffic flow there. The planned

bypass road across the Fairfield Hills grounds could solve some of the

through-traffic problems now experienced in the town center, Mr Kasper said.

The developers plan to provide an access point to the shopping center on

Church Hill Road as part of the second phase of the construction project.

To prevent a problem with traffic turning left from the shopping center onto

Church Hill Road, vehicles exiting a driveway there will be allowed to only

make right turns, he said.

Action

After a recess, Borough Zoning Commission members, in approving the project,

specified limits on the hours for tractor-trailer truck deliveries at the

supermarket and specified that shopping carts must be stored next to the

supermarket or within it.

In granting the special exception to the borough zoning regulations,

commission members unanimously found that the planned project: is in harmony

with the general character of the neighborhood; is consistent with the borough

zoning rules; doesn't substantially hurt property values in the area; won't

create a traffic hazard on existing streets; doesn't create health hazards; is

in harmony with architecture within 1,000 feet of the site, and will be done

with a minimal defacement of natural features.

In approving the site development plan, commission members ruled that: the

architectural design of the project harmonizes with the neighborhood and

protects propety values there; the project doesn't pose health or safety

hazards; it conserves natural terrain and vegetataion as much as possible; it

minimizes excessive light and noise; it meets the borough zoning rules; public

utilities and drainage are appropriately planned; the streets and drives

within the development site are adequate to carry anticipated traffic; and the

project meets other applicable borough, town and state regulations.