The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Portland’s Elmcrest site plan going to public hearing
Project includes refurbishing three 19th-century homes
PORTLAND — The town has received the site plan for the Brainerd Place project, which paves the way for redevelopment of the Elmcrest property.
“This is not hypothetical anymore,” land-use administrator Ashley Majorowski said.
Representatives of developer Daniel Bertram presented Majorowski earlier this week with the site plan as well as the engineering and traffic studies for the proposed $30 million project. Also included in the package was a check for $97,700 in application fees. Much of that total will be be used to pay for a consulting engineer analyzing the mixed-use development.
Bertram’s proposal calls for a mix of apartments and retail/commercial space on the 14.7-acre former hospital property, located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Main and Marlborough streets.
Majorowski formally presented documents to the Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday. The commission accepted the material and then set a public hearing on the proposal for Nov. 2.
In the interim, copies of the material will be circulated among officials charged with reviewing details of the project, Majorowski said.
They include Terri Hahn, the consulting engineer, as well as Town Engineer Jeff Jacobs, Fire Chief Robert A. Shea, Fire Marshal Raymond J. Sajdak, Building Official Lincoln White, Director of Public Works Richard D. Kelsey and Mary D. Dickerson, the town’s economic development coordinator.
Once the commission convenes the public hearing, it has 35 days in which to take comment and then close the hearing, Majorowski said. It will then have 65 days in which to render a decision. The commission is allowed an additional 65 days in extensions to complete its decision making, if needed, she added.
The town is still waiting for the submission of the architectural drawings for the project, Majorowski said.
First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield said Bertram told her in an email to expect the drawings sometime this week. Bertram, the president of BRT Corp., said he was very pleased with the design for the site, Bransfield said.
The project includes the revitalization of three historic 19th-century homes on the property. The Brainerd House, which Bertram said he had fallen in love with, “will be used for amenities” for residents of the apartment that will be built on the property, Dickerson said. Bertram is in negotiations to turn the Sage House into “a high-end restaurant,” Dickerson said.
A local historical preservation group is working with Bertram to move the Hart/Jarvis House to an alternate site on the property. The home was the childhood home of Elizabeth Colt, the wife of Samuel Colt, the Hartford gunmaker.
After a quick review of the plans presented to Majorowski, Dickerson said, “They have tweaked the location of Hart/Jarvis to get a better fit.” The house will be moved to a more prominent location on the western edge of the property, which faces out onto eastbound Route 66 as it empties off the Arrigoni Bridge.
Dickerson described the three houses as “historic homes that are important to the community and which set a tone for the development.”
“We’re very happy to finally have this application in our hands to review,” Bransfield said, “and I look forward to the successful completion of the review.”
If the commission approves the site plan, work on the project should start in the spring, Bransfield said.