Brian Gioiele
MONROE — Reconstruction of Pepper Street, a project that has been in the pipeline for several years, is one step closer to fruition.
The Town Council, at its remote meeting Monday, unanimously approved an agreement between the town and BL Companies Connecticut Inc. for inspection services for the project, which involves reconstruction of 4,500 linear feet on Pepper Street for safety improvements, culvert replacements, roadway drainage improvements and paving, minor widening and a multi-use trail improvement from the Northbrook Condos to Grand Road.
“The Pepper Street road project grants, which cover 90 percent of the costs, remain committed by the state and federal government and the project has continued to proceed,” said First Selectman Ken Kellogg. “The actual construction phase should begin in the very near future.”
Kellogg has stated that the project will help support future economic development of the existing industrial park by properly supporting commercial traffic coming to and from Route 25.
He said that the project will be 80 percent funded by a federal grant, with the town paying 10 percent and the state putting in the final 10 percent.
The project, Kellogg said, was originally approved in 2014 and has been in the design phase for several years and, until recently, pending further action by the state to proceed. Town Council has already approved the construction agreement with The Grasso Companies LLC.
Shelton P&Z opposes apartment plan at PerkinElmer site
Brian Gioiele
SHELTON — The Planning and Zoning Commission opposes granting a zone change that would allow construction of 272 apartments on the Bridgeport Avenue property that also houses PerkinElmer.
While no formal vote was taken, the commission, at its remote meeting Tuesday, was unanimous in its desire to deny the project. P&Z consultant Tony Panico was asked to craft a resolution to that effect for a future meeting. The site is not suitable for intensive multi-family residential development,” said commission Chair Virginia Harger, “because, as currently proposed, it may actually result in pedestrian conflicts with on-site traffic serving the occupant of the current site as well as occupants in the adjacent commercial development.” The plan called for four buildings and 272 units with 10 percent of the units — 27 total — listed as affordable housing. The structure housing PerkinElmer would remain, with the four buildings built in the present parking area.
The property owners are seeking a zone change for 710 Bridgeport Ave. to a Planned Development District in order to add the apartments to the location that presently houses offices, light industry and warehouse space. PerkinElmer is the main tenant, and representatives from that company stated that they support the application as presented.
“I do not support yet another zone change on Bridgeport Avenue for 272 more housing units,” said commissioner Jimmy Tickey. “The fact is that these massive housing developments on Bridgeport Avenue take our focus away from downtown Shelton development.”
P&Z Alternate Peter Laskos called the design “disconnected” and said having two different buildings “occupying an industrial site is ill conceived.”Harger agreed, saying the proposed density is “excessive and may result in a variety of future issues.”
Despite the potential of affordable housing, she said, integrating residential apartments with existing industrial, office, warehousing and retail development “could result in a variety of land use conflicts.” Harger said Bridgeport Avenue has a finite capacity to accommodate additional traffic that will be generated by further development in the Bridgeport Avenue corridor.
“We are not aware of any comprehensively planned road improvements except those mandated by major, approved developments which have not yet been implemented or completed,” said Harger. “Therefore, available traffic capacity should be preserved for future non-residential growth and development.”
Harger said, in her view, the commission is concerned about the “potential negative impact that significant additional apartment development in the Bridgeport Avenue corridor may have on apartments proposed elsewhere in the city, especially in the downtown area.”
The application faced opposition from residents concerned about density, and some city officials and developers who are concerned that further introduction of apartments along Bridgeport Avenue would hurt downtown development.
Owners of The Mark, a nearby luxury apartment complex, have also voiced opposition.
Among those opposed were some members of the Board of Aldermen, headlined by board President John Anglace Jr., who called on the commission to “just say no” to the plan.
Groton RTM approves agreement for Seely School property
Kimberly Drelich
Groton — The Representative Town Meeting gave its approval Wednesday for the town to enter into an option to purchase agreement with DonMar Development for the 14-acre William Seely School property. The vote was 27-2, with three abstentions.
The North Haven-based development company is proposing to redevelop the long-vacant former school site at 55 Seely School Drive as a 280-unit apartment community with amenities, including a pool, walking trail, clubhouse and dog park.
The option agreement is for one year, but could be extended for another six months. The price for the property is $1, and the developer will cover the estimated $1 million cost of demolishing the school building, according to Town Manager John Burt.
During public comment, Grove Avenue resident Laura Cotto urged the RTM to “not move forward with selling and developing this property without a plan for retaining open space for the kids in our community and for maintaining pedestrian safety in our neighborhood.”
“The neighbors are not necessarily opposed to the concept of a development,” resident Thomas W. Potter said. “They have been and continue to be opposed to the location of the planned access from Walker Hill Road.”
Abutting property owner Gretchen Chipperini said only an integrated, mixed-use project “will provide the largest impact on improving our grand list and putting Groton onto the map to attract more investment.”
Town Mayor Patrice Granatosky, who echoed comments in support from Councilors Lian Obrey and Conrad Heede, said the proposed apartment development is an opportunity to return a vacant, town-owned property to the tax rolls.
“We are trying to attract the 80% of our workforce that leaves Groton every day,” Granatosky added. “We would like them to stay in Groton. We would like them to become members of our community. This is an opportunity to do just that.”
During discussions, several RTM members had concerns or questions about access to the development. DonMar Project Executive Anthony Di Gioia said DonMar currently has two options: Seely School Drive and an easement adjacent to the water tower that would allow for a main access onto Walker Hill Road. He said DonMar also made an offer to a property owner next to the easement.
Di Gioia confirmed that DonMar has not made a monetary offer to Chipperini, whose property could provide access to Route 12. He said that DonMar created a conceptual plan that would encompass Chipperini’s property but decided “not to hinge the success of this project on combining the two pieces.”
“That’s not to say the possibility is gone. We’ve made provisions to ensure that the two parcels can be linked, but it’s important to stress that it’s really not feasible until the project is underway. Once Triton Square is underway, and there’s that built-in consumer market, I think that would be a more appropriate time to begin to explore the commercial aspect,” said Di Gioia, emphasizing that it’s not “out of the question.”
Chipperini said Thursday that she has not seen the plan. But she said an integrated mixed-use development — a seamless project with a central main street and features to create ambience — needs to be designed that way from the get-go.
"You can't build an integrated project as an afterthought," she said.
At Wednesday's RTM meeting, Rep. Ian Thomas said that while he’s otherwise in favor of DonMar's apartment development and would like to see the property back on the tax rolls, he’s concerned about access points and would like to see more negotiations.
Rep. Robert Bailey said he was against selling off the William Seely School in this manner due to the concerns expressed by people living in the neighborhood. He said it was worth it to “thread those needles through before going onward.”
Rep. Jeanne Baker said that it’s too bad that cars can’t exit onto Route 12, but it does not seem possible. “I think we need to get this property developed and that poor old school is in pretty bad shape, and that may become a liability down the road, so I think we really need to vote yes on this project,” Baker said.
To move forward with the project, the developer would need to return to the Town Council and also get approvals from the Inland Wetlands Agency and Planning and Zoning Commission, according to town staff.
Di Gioia said a traffic study will be done to find ways to improve safety on Walker Hill Road.
He also said that when DonMar brings the project to the Planning & Zoning Commission, the plans will include a public access component. Based on public comments, the developers are looking to move a proposed playscape outside the fenced-in area and create an access point so the public can access walking trails.
Stop & Shop parent to build fully-automated warehouse in Plainville; add 200 employees
Joe Cooper
he international food retailer that owns Stop & Shop and other supermarkets says it’s building one of two new fully-automated cold-storage warehouses on vacant land in Plainville.
Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Netherlands-based food giant Ahold Delhaize, announced plans Thursday to increase its cold-storage capacity at a new 500,000-square-foot warehouse at 34 Northwest Dr. The Plainville warehouse will serve Ahold’s Northeast brands, including Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Co., Hannaford and Stop & Shop, officials say.
A spokesperson for Ahold told HBJ the Plainville facility will employ about 200 people, and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022. The cost of the project was not disclosed.
Ahold says it’s building a similar “frozen warehouse” in Mountville, Pa., in partnership with AmeriCold Logistics LLC, a global temperature controlled warehousing and transportation company.
Ahold Delhaize USA says it’s the largest grocery retail group on the East Coast and the fourth largest nationwide as it operates 2,000 stores and processes more than 6 million annual online grocery orders.
Its supply chain on the East Coast includes more than 1,000 trucks that deliver 1.1 billion cases of food to its various stores, Ahold said.
Shawmut Design and Construction rolls out COVID-19 tracing platform for employees
Sean Teehan
hawmut Design and Construction, a Boston-based construction firm with an operation in North Haven, created a technology platform meant to track possible transmission of the COVID-19 virus among employees and contractors.
The Shawmut Vitals platform, which includes an app and a database, was developed over the course of two weeks, and put in use May 4, Shawmut CEO Les Hiscoe said in an email.
"It provides safety solutions during a global pandemic, addressing the critical need to collect sensitive, real-time health data that drives actionable steps to minimize and reduce infectious disease spread," Hiscoe said.
The platform allows employees and contractors to fill out a health survey each day to self report whether they are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, according to Shawmut. Those who report experiencing symptoms, or being exposed to an infected person are flagged to Shawmut management who can decide whether that worker can enter a worksite.
Shawmut did $1.5 billion in revenue last year, Hiscoe said.
The pandemic has hit Connecticut's construction sector unevenly, with some companies affected more negatively than others.
According to the Associated General Contractors of America, Connecticut actually added 700 construction jobs between February and March, a 1% increase in employment — fourth highest in the U.S.