Medical office building proposed for Pawcatuck

Stonington — An Old Lyme firm that developed the Stop & Shop complex in Pawcatuck has submitted an application to construct a two-story medical office building on the former Maple Breeze Park site on Liberty Street.

READCO is seeking a special use permit, subdivision approval and a groundwater protection permit to build a 25,206-square-foot building on the 7.7-acre parcel across from the intersection with White Rock Road.

The Planning and Zoning Commission will set a public hearing on the application.

READCO is proposing to use the rear of the existing lot as buffer between the medical office and its 122 parking spots and the adjacent Timber Ridge housing development.

READCO is seeking height exception for architectural and roof features and waivers of requirements such as an archaeological study. Its application points out the site is “heavily disturbed” and lacks any historic resources.

The property has sat vacant since Keith and Louis Main, the longtime owners of the popular miniature golf course and water park, sold it in 2003 to a Gales Ferry firm which planned a $5 million health club.

That project never went forward after the two principals in the firm were charged with operating an internet Ponzi scheme.

The site was then sold at auction in 2004. In 2005, a Norwalk developer proposed to build 61 condominiums on the site but the Planning and Zoning Commission rejected that project and in 2009 he proposed a supermarket. That project also did not go forward as he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a bribery scheme.

The site, which was sold at a bank foreclosure auction in 2013, is now owned by People’s Bank United.