Date: Fri 08-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Newtown-Savings-Bank-expansion

Full Text:

Savings Bank Gets Approval For Main Street Expansion

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Newtown Savings Bank has gained Borough Zoning Commission approval to expand

its bank at 39 Main Street.

Commission members July 31 unanimously approved the bank's site redevelopment

plans which are intended to expand bank facilities while preserving the

historic character of Main Street.

After the commission's approval, John Martocci, bank president, said the bank

is scheduled to be in its expanded quarters by late fall 1998. The bank has a

budget of up to $3 million for design and construction, he said.

The bank will soon seek construction bids for the project.

Demolition of the old parsonage next door to the bank at 41-A Main Street is

expected in October, Mr Martocci said. As part of the expansion, a replica of

the circa 1815 parsonage will be constructed.

"It should be really nice," Mr Martocci said of the new facilities.

The bank will consolidate quarters here for its board of directors, accounting

section, and operations unit, he said.

Newtown Savings Bank will apply to the Newtown Borough Historic District

Commission for inclusion in the historic district, Mr Martocci explained.

On July 31, the bank presented plans for its expansion to the Borough Zoning

Commission, with Mr Martocci describing how the expanded facility will fit

into the Main Street streetscape.

"We obviously need more space.... We want to consolidate our headquarters," Mr

Martocci said. "We need a (drive-up) teller to compete effectively with other

banks in town that have a drive-up teller."

The bank will build an elevator and provide an access for the handicapped, he

said. The bank's automatic teller machine will remain where it is now located,

facing Main Street. The bank's signs will remain where they are, he said.

Project architect Don Hughlett said architectural detailing from the existing

parsonage will be salvaged for use in the replicated parsonage. The existing

parsonage is in structurally poor condition, he noted. The new structure will

have dual chimneys as did the original building, he added.

When construction is complete, the bank will relocate 15 employees to its Main

Street office.

On July 23, the Conservation Commission approved wetlands aspects of the

bank's redevelopment plan.

Also, the Borough Zoning Board of Appeals has granted five zoning variances to

Newtown Savings Bank for the project.

Redevelopment

Faced with the need for more space and a desire to stay on Main Street, the

bank in 1996 offered to buy the Newtown Congregational Church's property at

41-A Main Street for $550,000. The 5.38-acre church property includes a

13,980-square-foot church house, a deteriorated parsonage, and a small house

at the rear of the property.

The new office space behind the parsonage facade will be linked to the bank by

a new addition.

In granting the five zoning variances, the appeals board: allowed a bank use

on the residentially-zoned land on the church property at 41-A Main Street;

combined 39 and 41-A Main Street into one lot under single ownership; allowed

fewer off-street parking spaces than normally required; allowed the bank to

build a drive-up teller window; and allowed the current combined

non-conforming land use to convert into a different non-conforming land use.

The appeals board granted the zoning variances with the condition that

approximately three acres of wetlands at the rear of the combined lot be

transferred to the Borough of Newtown Land Trust, Inc, as open space.

The appeals board also specified that the combined lot be limited to bank use

only, except that for five years after the issuance of the first building

permit for the project, the church's use of the property also will be

permitted. The church would be able to request a five-year time extension

beyond that, but would have to receive a zoning variance to get such an

extension.

The appeals board also is requiring that the owner of the combined lot apply

to the Borough of Newtown Historic District Commission to become a part of the

historic district before applying for any building or zoning permit concerning

a bank use of what is now the church-owned property.

The bank wants to lease the three-story church house on the site back to the

church for five years with an option for an additional five years, providing

time for the church to build a new church house on its property on West

Street. The old church house, which was built in 1948, then would be used for

bank operations, but it probably also will contain rental office space and a

community room. Currently, the building houses a nursery school and the

Newtown Youth Services offices.

Expansions Over The Years

The existing bank building, which was constructed in 1909, was enlarged in

1935 and renovated in 1963, 1975 and 1987.

Mr Martocci said many of the bank's operations and personnel have been moved

to Southbury, Woodbury and the branch office in the Sand Hill Plaza in the

years since 1985 because of lack of space as the bank's services continued to

grow.

"It's extremely inconvenient and expensive for us to be so spread apart," he

said. "This expansion will allow us to bring...employees back to Main Street

from Southbury...and add to Newtown's tax base...because what was [exempt]

church property will be taxed as commercial property," he said.

"The addition will be set back (from the street) and heavily landscaped," Mr

Martocci said. "It will appear to be one-story, but actually is two stories

because of the slope of the property away from the street," he said.

The bank has seven offices: two in Newtown, two in Bethel, plus Monroe,

Southbury and Woodbury.