The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
P&Z gives go-ahead to build parking lot
SHELTON — While giants like General Electric and Alexion Pharmaceuticals have left Connecticut, the city is working with a local developer to prevent another employer from packing up and heading out.
This week, the city’s Planning and Zoning commission gave the go-ahead to Rob Scinto of R.D. Scinto Inc. to begin digging up a parking lot behind his 5 Research Drive property and lay the foundation for a new 10,000-square-foot building.
“This is a win-win for everyone,” said Virginia Harger, the commission’s chairwoman. “Their employees won’t have to relocate out of this state, keeping the company’s workforce stable, and it adds to our tax base in Shelton.”
The company, currently renting space in Danbury, is interested in signing a 15-year lease, he said. He told the commission he needs to get the building completed before December, when the company’s lease runs out.
While he declined to identify the company, he did say they inspect railroad tracks.
“They were considering moving a portion of their operation to South Carolina,” said Scinto. “We can keep them here if we construct a new building,”
The company has leased 31,000 square feet for its research and development, maintenance and office staff in the former Cablevision call center. Altice, which purchased Cablevision, moved the majority of that company out of state.
The rest of the building is leased by Really Good Stuff, an educational supply company, and Dark Field Technologies, which uses cameras and lasers to detect defects and measure coating thicknesses in plastic film sheets, glass, metal strip coils and other building materials.
Scinto said the new building would be built in a rear parking lot that once handled 800 cars.
He said he’d be willing to work with the commission on the yet-to-be constructed building’s style and the color used in the facade.
Rick Schultz, the city’s Planning and Zoning Administrator, said the commission’s approval allows Scinto to begin digging, place footings and the foundation and begin the interior shell once he takes out a building permit.