The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Plan revision delays Elmcrest hearing
Developer wants feedback from nearby residents
PORTLAND — The developer of the Elmcrest property has received an extension of a second public hearing on the site plan for the 14.7-acre parcel.
BRT DiMarco submitted its proposed site plan for the mixeduse development to the Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this month during a well-attended public hearing. The commission was scheduled to hold a second hearing on the plan last week.
But instead, BRT sent a letter to Land Use Administrator Ashley J. Majorowski requesting a postponement of the second hearing until Dec. 7. The letter also requested a 35-day extension of the hearing, both of which are permitted under the PZC’s regulations, according to Majorowski.
BRT is reportedly making alterations to the plan, which calls for constructing as many as 241 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and some 89,000 square feet of retail/commercial space.
During the presentation of the site plan earlier this month, developer Daniel R. Bertram said he was going to relocate the garage entrance on one of the two four-story apartment buildings.
Given the unprecedented size and scope of the project, the town has tasked its Development Division Team to review the project.
The team, led by Majorowski, includes Building Official Lincoln White, Town Engineer Jeff Jacobs, Deputy Fire Marshal Peter Wilse, Economic Development Coordinator Mary D. Dickerson and consulting engineer Terri Hahn.
The team reviewed the proposal and submitted a response to BRT Nov. 13, Majorowski said. However, the second public hearing Nov. 16 would not have given BRT time to draft a response, Majorowski said.
But, he added, that was not the reason BRT asked for the delay in the second public hearing. BRT is moving “to address some the concerns from residents” who live along the east side of Perry Avenue, Dickerson said Tuesday.
Those concerns include “building setbacks, foliage buffering and a sidewalk,” said Dickerson, who expects BRT’s revised plans to be submitted to the town next week.
In a presentation earlier this month, BRT engineers said the developer was making a concerted effort to save a number of specimen trees on the former hospital property. DRT is already committed to saving three historically significant 19thcentury homes on the site which are on the National Register of Historical Places.
Engineers working for Bertram “walked” residents through the property using a mix of maps and architectural drawings to highlight both residential and commercial buildings on the site. The initial presentation showed a commercial building — possibly a CVS Pharmacy — could be located at the far northwest corner of the property, at the intersection of Main and Marlborough streets.
There would be an entrance on Main Street, which would also give residents access to a proposed coffee house which would be adjacent to the CVS building. However, BRT officials cautioned, no contract has been signed with the pharmacy giant.