A local real estate firm has gained a subdivision approval for 94 South Main Street (Route 25), for which it also is seeking several Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approvals required to build a veterinary hospital, a boarding facility for small animals, and an associated retail use.Next Step

Following a November 16 public hearing, P&Z members unanimously approved subdividing the 3.13-acre 94 South Main Street into two lots - a 2.06-acre lot with frontage on South Main Street, and also a 1.07-acre lot lying to the west with frontage on Greenbriar Lane (the area indicated by the X in the Google Map, above). The site, which has R-1 (Residential) zoning, lies generally south and west of the intersection of South Main Street and Greenbriar Lane.

The veterinary facilities would be constructed on the lot with frontage on South Main Street. That 2.06-acre lot holds the remnants of a former plant nursery, which would be removed to make way for veterinary facilities.

An existing house would remain standing on the lot lying to the west, which has frontage on Greenbriar Lane.

At the November 16 hearing, P&Z members reviewed engineering plans for the subdivision drawn by Solli Engineering of Monroe for applicant Prithvi Real Estate Management, LLC, of 119 Mt Pleasant Road, Hawleyville. That Hawleyville address holds Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals, a veterinary practice headed by owner/veterinarian Dr Rakesh Vali, DVM. Dr Vali is a principal in the real estate firm.

The applicant has received a wetlands/watercourses protection permit for the subdivision application from the town Land Use Agency. The applicant may need another such permit for the proposed construction, depending upon the specifics of the project. There is a pond on the site.

During the public comment section of the November 16 public hearing, only one person spoke.

Resident Neil Chaudhary of 1 Southbrook Lane, which lies across Greenbriar Lane from the subdivision site, told P&Z members that he favors the applicant's plans to locate proposed new construction near South Main Street, and not near the residential area to the west. Mr Chaudhary endorsed the development application.

In approving the two-lot subdivision, P&Z members decided that the application is consistent with the R-1 zoning regulations, with the 2014 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, and with the Comprehensive Plan. P&Z members agreed that the town would accept a fee in lieu of open space, rather than actual open space land at the subdivision. Such fees are held by the town for open space-related spending.

As part of the multistep process required to create a veterinary use at the site, the P&Z has scheduled a public hearing for 7:30 pm on Thursday, December 7, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street, to review Prithi's regulatory proposal to create new zoning regulations concerning Special Design District-5 (SDD-5), as part of the broader South Main Village Design District (SMVDD) zoning regulations.

The SDD-5 regulations would be the fifth set of customized zoning rules created under the provisions of the SMVDD overlay zoning regulations, which the P&Z created in 2007 to foster economic development that is harmony with New England architecture along the four-mile-long South Main Corridor.

According to documents filed by Prithvi, the proposed veterinary hospital and animal boarding facility would enclose 12,791 square feet of space. Also, about 3,000 square feet of retail space would be built.

Those documents provide an explanation of the proposed regulations' conformity with the tenets of SMVDD zoning. They also specify the proposed SDD-5 regulations, which would apply only to the 2.06-acre lot where the new construction would occur.

Other South Main Street properties that have been developed as special design districts under SMVDD overlay zoning include Walgreens Pharmacy at 49 South Main Street, an office complex at 84 South Main Street, Highland Plaza at 123 South Main Street, and Tractor Supply at 116 South Main Street.

If P&Z members approve SDD-5 zoning regulations covering the veterinary use and related uses of 94 South Main Street, the applicant would still need to receive at least two other P&Z approvals for the project.

One of those approvals would be a change of zone from R-1 to SMVDD/SDD-5 for the 2.06-acre lot at 94 South Main Street.

Also, the project's site development plan would need to be approved by the P&Z.

The last SMVDD project considered by the P&Z was Tractor Supply, which involved lengthy review before it gained all required P&Z approvals in July 2016. That firm opened for business recently.