Stratford approves fourth Starbucks location on East Main

STRATFORD — The new owners of Knotts Landing have won approval to build a Starbucks at the shopping center.

The Stratford Zoning Commission voted 4 to 1 on Wednesday to approve plans from Regency Centers Corporation, which purchased the property last year, to construct the 2,400-square-foot coffee shop at 50 East Main Street. The store is set to become the town’s fourth Starbucks location.

The decision comes about five years after the original developers behind the shopping center first planned to include a Starbucks as a part of the 1-acre development next to Interstate 95, which also features a Chipotle, a fivestory self-storage facility and retail space.

But when the project was originally approved by local land use officials, the developers were not able to begin construction on the Starbucks because the site was occupied by a billboard that contained cell tower equipment.

Barry Knott, an attorney representing Regency, told the commission the developers recently received permission from a state agency tasked with determining the location of public utilities to relocate the billboard to a different part of the property, allowing the project to move forward after years of delays.

“The Starbucks restaurant could not be constructed at that time because there was an air advertising sign owned by the Barrett Sign Company, which was located in the middle of the Starbucks parking lot and that needed to be moved,” Knott said.

Regency acquired the property from the original developer and owner, Urstadt Biddle Properties, last year as part of a larger $1.4 billion takeover that also included The Dock shopping center located nearby.

Knott said the new plans for the Starbucks include noticeable differences from the coffee shop originally envisioned for the site. For example, the updated floor plan is about 20 percent bigger than the initial design.