Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) members at a December 6 public hearing posed a range of questions on a development firm’s proposal to intensify the development of a site at 73 and 75 Church Hill Road, near Exit 10 of Interstate 84, where an approximately 12,000-square-foot retail building is now under construction.

Applicant Sunrise Church Hill Road LLC is seeking a modified special zoning permit for certain proposed changes to the construction plans for the project. Those changes would increase the overall size of the structures built there from 12,170 to 12,227 square feet, increase the number of parking spaces from 74 to 113 spaces, and install two drive-up automatic teller machines (ATM) beneath a dual-lane shelter. The initial version of the project gained P&Z approval in October 2016.

The 39 additional parking spaces would increase the paved area at the 3.3-acre site by about 0.34 acres. The development of the property has involved major site work, including the rerouting of the nearby Tom Brook to remove an oxbow curve from its course.

The 39 additional parking spaces would be constructed in the area that formerly was the southernmost section of Edmond Road. That road section will be demolished as part of an ongoing state Department of Transportation (DOT) intersection realignment project. The new southern end of Edmond Road has been shifted to the west, connecting to Church Hill Road in the area between the frontages for Newtown Pizza Palace and Wheels gas station/convenience store.

The developer’s application for a modified special zoning permit for the design changes includes installing various signage for a Starbucks Coffee drive-through window at the retail center, plus associated construction work involving grading, drainage, and utilities installation.

Engineer Russell Cyr of Solli Engineering LLC of Monroe, representing the developer, told P&Z members that an unidentified bank wants to locate in a space in the retail center and have the two remote drive-up ATM machines positioned outdoors there. The sheltered ATMs would be located near the proposed 39 parking spaces.

Mr Cyr said that besides the bank, as currently planned, the retail center would hold an unidentified 100-seat restaurant, an unidentified pizzeria, and a Starbucks Coffee shop with drive-through window service, plus some store space. The pertinent zoning regulations require that there be 113 parking spaces for the various planned uses, Mr Cyr said.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland asked why the proposed additional 39 spaces would be located in an area on the site that is somewhat removed from the retail building. He asked that certain design details for the added parking be submitted.

P&Z member Jim Swift asked how many additional vehicle trips the proposed design changes would generate at the site. Having motorists enter the site at a two-way driveway extending from Edmond Road only in order to use the ATMs there could create traffic problems on the property, he said.

The main driveway for the site located on Church Hill Road, which would be controlled by an existing traffic signal, would allow traffic to only enter the property there.

Mr Swift observed that having three eateries at the retail center “seems like a very intensive use” of the site. Also, he expressed concern about the large number of parking spaces that would be added there.

Rob Sibley, town deputy director of planning, said the applicant will need to provide more information to the P&Z. That would include an updated traffic report covering the proposed changes to the project, with information on the number of additional vehicle trips that would be generated, details on the signage proposed for the retail project, and an explanation of how the total number of parking spaces required was determined.

P&Z members decided to resume the public hearing on the requested modified special zoning permit on December 20.

In 2016, the developer sought and received P&Z approval to create a new zone, known as the Exit 10 Commercial Design District (X10-CDD), which allows the project to be constructed at 73 Church Hill Road, which has underlying M-5 (Industrial) zoning, and at 75 Church Hill Road, which has underlying B-2 (General Business) zoning.

Through that X10-CDD zoning designation, the developer gained P&Z approval for drive-through window service at a Starbucks Coffee shop to be located at the northwest corner of the retail building. That 2016 development approval was the first time since 1958, when town zoning went into effect, that the P&Z has approved drive-through window service for an eatery.