Zoning Committee

CITY OF NORWALK ZONING COMMITTEE August 10, 2017 PRESENT: Doug Stern; Roderick Johnson; Nate Sumpter; Louis Schulman; Joe Passero; Galen Wells; Mike Witherspoon; Richard Roina STAFF: Steve Kleppin; Mike Wrinn OTHERS: Atty Joe Williams; Peter Yeskey; Mike Karl; Atty Bill Hennessey; Paxton Kinol I. PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE BUILDING ZONE MAP/ZONING AMENDMENT/SITE PLAN/CAM a) #1-17M/#7-17R/#4-17SP - Cumberland Farms, Inc. – 2-4 West Main St./125-131 Main St. – Proposed change to Building Zone Map from D Residence in part & Business #2 in part to entirely Business #2 zone; Proposed amendments to the Building Zone Regulations to permit new gas filling station within 200 ft of existing station to be replaced & special permit for new gas station with 6 pump islands & 4,794 sf retail store – Preliminary review Atty Joe Williams started with a brief overview of the application. He explained that there was an existing structure and showed the commissioners a photo of it. He also oriented them to it on an aerial map. The new building will not replace the existing one, but rather it would be on a different site, across from the old Continental Manor. Currently, on the current property, there are 6 parcels with houses and commercial buildings. Some of them are multi-family housings which are affordable housing units. There was a discussion about the other gas station that is close by. Atty Williams explained the proposed amendments. He said that they did some research on the surrounding towns and their regulations. The current site will be cleaned up and will be deed restricted so that it will not be a gas station in the future. He then showed them the site plan. Mike Karl continued the presentation by showing the commissioners the materials board which was passed out to them. He explained the noise mitigation that they proposed. There was a discussion as to where the gas pumps would be. There was a discussion of the traffic study that the applicant had provided. He said that the levels of service would remain the same. Left turns will not be allowed at this site. There was a question as to one way traffic flow. There was a discussion about the difference in size between the proposed site from the current one. There was a discussion as to the neighbor’s feedback. Peter Yeskey spoke with one of the neighbors on the West Main Street Neighborhood Association. He has also reached out to the Common Council members that represented this area. He would be meeting with some neighbors the following day. Mike Karl explained the landscaping and the retaining walls on the property. There was also a discussion about the lighting plan. There is no bleed into residential areas. There was a discussion as to the location of the dumpsters. There would be some renderings at the next meeting which would superimpose the proposed site onto a picture of the current area. There was a discussion of how many residents would be displaced from this project. There was also a discussion as to how many gas stations in this area also had convenience stores attached to it. A product list would be provided at the next meeting. Atty Williams noted that alcohol could not Zoning Committee August 10, 2017 Page 1 of 3 be sold at convenience stores in Connecticut. There was a discussion as to next steps. The current property is too small for this concept. Abutting neighbors around the current site declined to sell their properties so when this proposed site became available, the applicant thought it would be acceptable. II. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO BUILDING ZONE REGULATIONS/SITE PLAN/SPECIAL PERMIT a) #4-17R/#2-17SPR/#14-17CAM – NWMFP Norwalk Town Ctr II/3 Q Property LLC – The Pinnacle @ Waypointe South Block - 467 West Av/17 Butler St/3 Quincy St – Proposed amendments to revise Design District Development Park (DDDP) criteria for developments in CBDD Subarea B and site plan review/CAM for new 7 story, 519,820 square feet mixed use development with 330 dwelling units, 496 seat iPic movie theater (41,604 sf), 12,209 square feet restaurant, 14,046 square feet retail, 23,979 square feet fitness center and 942 space parking garage – Final review prior to public hearing and b) #3-17SPR/#15-17CAM – 6 Butler Properties, LLC – 6 Butler Street – Demolish existing building at 6 Butler Street; Relocate historic building from 3 Quincy Street to 6 Butler Street; demolish a portion of the historic building and rehabilitate remaining portion of historic building for reuse as 7,680 square feet of office – Final review prior to public hearing and c) #X-17SPR - NWMFP Norwalk Town Ctr II/3 Q Property LLC et al - Modify Waypointe Design District Development Park (DDDP) and data accumulation plan to reduce DDDP acreage from 15.56 to 15.26 acres, to increase sf of development on South Block from 345,632 sf to 519,820 sf, to increase DDDP density from 814 units to 988 units and related changes – Further review It was agreed that all of these applications would be discussed together. There was a question as to whether this had to be reviewed by the Redevelopment Agency. Mr. Kleppin said that he would recommend opening the public hearing at the Zoning Commission meeting later in August and then wait for the Redevelopment Agency’s review. Mr. Kinol said that he had met with the Redevelopment Agency’s consultant but that they had not started the review after having it in their office for 4 months. Atty Hennessey said that they had been through this process 4 other times before and that the Redevelopment Agency review had not been a problem. Mr. Kleppin then discussed the applications and the public hearing process. Mr. Kinol explained how he was bringing investment into Norwalk. He claimed that this building would become the largest taxpayer once it was built. He then explained the changes that had been made to some of the current applications because of economic factors. There was then a discussion as to the Planning Commission’s denial of these applications. Mr. Kleppin discussed what he knew of their denial of the proposed text amendment. There was a discussion about the amount of residents in their buildings. There was also a discussion asking whether the Law Department could render an opinion about whether the Zoning Commission needed to wait for the comments from the Redevelopment Agency. Atty Hennessey said that they would like to continue moving the process forward. He also asked if staff could get some preliminary comments from the Redevelopment Agency for the public hearing. Mr. Sumpter directed Mr. Kleppin to speak with the Redevelopment Agency to encourage them to move more quickly on their review of this application. There was a discussion about the lack of retail in some of the other buildings. There was a discussion about the Wall St. area and the POCO project. Mr. Kinol thought it should be a parking lot for the restaurants in the area. There was a discussion about the shuttles running from the buildings to the train station and also having a trolley run, funded by a grant. Currently no such trolley exists. Zoning Committee August 10, 2017 Page 2 of 3  d) #6-17R – Zoning Commission - Proposed amendments to permit medical marijuana dispensaries and medical marijuana producers in certain zones – Final review prior to public hearing Mr. Kleppin explained how the Planning Commission denied this proposed amendment. Mr. Passero said that the Chief of Police had been unaware that there could be growing facilities in Norwalk and did not seem in favor of either dispensaries and/or growing facilities. If it was going to happen, it should happen in one specific zone. The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, Diana Palmentiero Zoning Committee August 10, 2017 Page 3 of 3