Date: Fri 20-Jun-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-laundermat-Sproviero

Full Text:

Proposal For Landermat On Church Hill Is Rejected

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Citing inadequate parking, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have

unanimously rejected a controversial proposal to locate a laundermat in a

section of the building that houses Pizza Palace of Newtown at 65 Church Hill

Road.

On June 13, P&Z members turned down the request for a special exception to the

zoning regulations requested by Louis Sproviero, president of Soap Box, Inc.

P&Z discussion on the application focused on whether the site would have

sufficient parking spaces for the customers and workers at the busy restaurant

and the proposed laundermat.

If there are 23 restaurant workers at the Pizza Palace during peak periods,

then the number of parking spaces at the site is inadequate, P&Z member Heidi

Winslow said.

P&Z members have seen no formal agreement which would allow Pizza Palace

workers to park at the adjacent Newtown Hardware parking lot, she noted.

Considering the number of restaurant customers and workers, plus the people

who would be in a laundermat, the site has insufficient parking for such a

dual use, Ms Winslow said.

P&Z Chairman Stephen Koch noted the zoning regulations stipulate that land

uses not create health, safety, traffic or congestion problems. The underlying

problem with the laundermat application is that it would create heavy traffic

on a relatively small lot, Mr Koch said. A laundermat would generate much

entering and exiting traffic, posing too heavy a traffic load for the

property, he said.

Between the people seeking to pick up fast food at the Pizza Palace, vehicular

maneuverings, and a lack of parking spaces, there would be congestion

problems, he said.

Mr Koch noted that P&Z members had learned there would be as many as 23 Pizza

Palace workers at the restaurant during peak periods, a significantly higher

number than the 13 people earlier thought to be the maximum number of

restaurant workers.

P&Z member Thomas Paisley said the proposed dual use of the land would make

for too many vehicles and too many people in the building.

"I don't think we can approve an application in which the parking is

inadequate," Ms Winslow said, adding the site is too small to be used as a

restaurant and laundermat.

Perhaps Mr Sproviero will find another location for a laundermat in Newtown,

she said.

P&Z members then unanimously rejected the special exception requested by Soap

Box, Inc, to locate at 65 Church Hill Road.

At a May public hearing, James Antonopoulos, an owner of Pizza Palace,

challenged the proposal to open a laundermat in the building where he is a

tenant.

At that session, he said Soap Box, Inc's, proposal wasn't a good idea because

it would worsen existing parking and traffic circulation problems in the area.

A less intensive use of the space at the rear of the building, such as its

former use as a financial office, would be acceptable, Mr Antonopoulos then

said.

He termed a laundermat "the wrong use for this location."

An initial proposal for a laundermat at the site was withdrawn by Soap Box in

March. Mr Sproviero operates five laundermats in the area - two in Danbury,

and one each in Brookfield, Woodbury and New Milford. Newtown doesn't have a

laundermat.

Several residents objected to intensifying the commercial use of Church Hill

Road, an area known for its heavy traffic and turning traffic.

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Soap Box, had maintained that the

laundermat proposal would result in improved traffic flow and parking in the

65 Church Hill Road area. The proposal had included provisions for a second

exitway from the site's parking lot.

Mr Hall said he will discuss the P&Z's action with Mr Sproviero.