Auto parts dealer’s move to Milford on hold
MILFORD — Slated to spend $20 million turning the former Subway sandwich franchise headquarters into its new home, online auto parts supplier FCP Euro is considering relocating to another town because city regulations prohibit oil-storage tanks at its new location, CEO Scott Drozd says.
The Planning and Zoning Board cleared the way for the move with two votes approving the construction of a warehouse to replace the former Subway headquarters building at 325 Sub Way owned by Shelton developer Bob Scinto on the condition that no tanks be placed there. FCP agreed to the deal, but since then discovered that the lack of tanks is a deal-breaker, something FCP really needs, and city officials have held firm in denying them, Drozd said.
Operating without the tanks “is just not a viable option,” Drozd said last week, expressing dissatisfaction that the oil tanks, which were prohibited in the Subway zone, are still a holdup to the deal. Neighbors opposed to the project expressed fears that they would contaminate nearby water bodies, but Drodz said the tanks are harmless and should be allowed in the new building.
“Every day we’re starting to look in different parts of Connecticut. We’re going up and down the I-91 corridor. We’re looking at, you know, all the way from Branford to New Haven, Stratford to East Haven, West Haven to Orange,” Drodz added. “We prefer to stay within a 10-mile radius of our current facility to retain our employees, but as a business, we have to find a suitable location. And it’s not looking like Milford is suitable for us right now. And there’s nothing in Milford that we see has potential.”
Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Jim Quish said he was surprised to hear of FCP’s change of plans.
FCP collects used oil from its customers as part of its service and planned to store it on site, but the board only became aware of this when FCP disclosed it during a board meeting in early November, with Scinto seemingly about to secure an approving vote on the plan. Neighbors to the site and the nearby Mondo Ponds Nature Preserve added the tanks to their list of objections to the project, and FCP volunteered to forego having the tanks on the site, Quish said.
“They (FCP) adjusted what they wanted in the zone change and we approved the zone change,” Quish said. “I am just confused at why they would have offered that up in public at a public hearing and then now say that that’s the reason they are not going forward. Did their team not know how essential this oil was?”
Scinto said Friday that he didn’t know and took responsibility for the miscommunication.
The developer said that his team “wanted to get the (planning board) approvals and we thought that if we backed off on the oil that we would get them. After we got the approvals, we found out that it is a major part of their business,” Scinto said. “We made the recommendation not knowing what a big deal it was to the tenant.
“We are working on trying to get it resolved and we are going ahead building the building at full speed and hopefully we can get it resolved,” he added.
Scinto can resubmit a plan seeking an alteration to their special permit, City Planner David Sulkis said.
FCP Euro, which owns a parts warehouse on Bic Drive and a store at 155 Hill St., reviewed about 40 properties before selecting the spot on Sub Way. The company is considering working with Scinto on a resolution, Drodz said.
They hope to have a decision on the Milford site or where else they might go within 90 days, they said.
FCP Euro imports and sells online genuine OE, and OEM parts for European-made cars including Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo. The company has been listed on Inc. Magazine’s 5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. FCP Euro also recently opened another 160,000-square-foot warehouse in Arizona and forecasts revenues of close to $1 billion by 2028, according to company officials.