Date: Fri 14-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-laundermat-Pizza-Palace

Full Text:

Laundermat Operator Will Apply Again To P&Z

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The firm that wants to open a laundermat in a section of the Church Hill Road

building occupied by Pizza Palace of Newtown plans to submit a new application

to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z).

Attorney Robert Hall, representing Soap Box, Inc, told P&Z members March 6 the

landlord of 65 Church Hill Road plans to increase parking at the site and

improve traffic flow on the property as part of a revised application.

Mr Hall said a resubmission to the P&Z for a laundermat use within the

commercial building will be made soon. Because a new application will be

submitted, a new public hearing will be scheduled on the matter.

Zoning issues involving commercial sign display will be addressed in the

revised application, Mr Hall said.

P&Z members have objected to the presence of a large restaurant sign painted

on the front, sloping roof of the Pizza Palace, as well as to a large

free-standing billboard advertising the restaurant at a gas station next door

to the restaurant. P&Z members say those signs violate the town's commercial

sign regulations.

P&Z member Heidi Winslow told Mr Hall the P&Z has some outstanding orders

against the restaurant requiring the removal of those signs.

Mr Hall responded that painting over the sign on the sloping roof would solve

that problem. But the free-standing billboard on the gas station property

isn't located on the 65 Church Hill Road property, he said.

In a recent letter to the P&Z, Zoning Enforcement Officer William Nicholson

said parking spaces on the Pizza Palace site don't appear adequate. Mr

Nicholson added that commercial sign violations by Pizza Palace should be

rectified as a condition of approving a laundermat.

Louis Sproviero of Brookfield, president of Soap Box, presented his laundermat

proposal to P&Z members at a public hearing in February.

There is a local need for a laundermat, Mr Sproviero told P&Z members. The

proposed facility wouldn't be in operation until it can discharge its

wastewater into the municipal sewer system, possibly late this year.

The 2,000-square-foot commercial space at the rear of Pizza Palace would hold

26 washing machines and 10 double dryers. Hours of operation would be 5 am to

10 pm, seven days a week. An attendant would be present daily from 8 am to 6

pm. The busiest times of the week for a laundermat are the daytime hours on

Saturday and Sunday, during which a third of the week's business may be done,

Mr Sproviero has said.

At the public hearing last month, resident Jack Bestor of 24 Walnut Tree Hill

Road said 65 Church Hill Road appears to be a "foolish place" to have a

laundermat, noting the parking lot there becomes congested with traffic.

It could be difficult to get a fire truck to an emergency at a laundermat, he

said. He asked whether a laundermat there would be a target for crime, adding

that police should consider if a laundermat is a valid land use at that

location. The presence of a laundermat behind Pizza Palace would create more

traffic congestion along Church Hill Road, he said.

Mr Bestor called for a new independent traffic study for the laundermat

application. The applicant has used past traffic data in performing a traffic

study for a laundermat.