The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Developer seeks three new buildings on Shelton’s Bridgeport Avenue
SHELTON – The primary tenant at 710 Bridgeport Ave. has concerns about the property owners’ plans to construct three other buildings on the site.
The property owner, AA Shelton, LLC, is seeking a Planned Development District approval for 710 Bridgeport Ave. — already home to a building leased by PerkinElmer and Gary Plastic Packaging Corp. — with the goal of constructing three separate buildings.
“(PerkinElmer) is not on board yet,” Michael DiVito, Sr., company director of applied markets and Shelton site lead, told the Planning and Zoning Commission at last week’s public hearing on this application. “We have a number of concerns that need to be addressed … we expect to work those out before the next meeting.”
DiVito did cite the specific concerns during the public hearing, which was continued to Oct. 20.
The application calls for construction of one 17,680square-foot building for light industrial, office or warehouse uses on a 4.5-acre section at the rear of the site. The other two buildings would house restaurants and be located on 8 acres in the front of the property — one would be 8,000 square feet, the other 4,000 square feet with a drive thru.
The application states that additional parking for the existing uses will be constructed near the office and light industrial uses.
According to the application, “The development can be performed in phases and the property divided into separate parcels provided
The property owner, AA Shelton LLC, is seeking a Planned Development District approval for 710 Bridgeport Ave. — already home to a building leased by PerkinElmer and Gary Plastic Packaging Corp. — with the goal of constructing three separate buildings.
reciprocal easements for access and utilities and maintenance agreements for the entire parcel are in place.”
The application further states that the parcel could be subdivided to create separate ownership of the proposed use areas, subject to the approval of a subdivision plan.
This move comes after the commission denied a zone change request last year for the property that would have allowed the construction of 272 apartments.
That plan had called for four buildings and 272 units with 10 percent of the units, 27 total, listed as affordable housing. The structure where PerkinElmer is located was to remain, with the four buildings built in the current parking area.
The commission cited concerns about the project’s density, with residential and industrial uses mixed on the site, and an increased traffic burden on Bridgeport Avenue.
The proposed development of two apartment buildings would have been inconsistent with the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development and, if approved, would hurt ongoing downtown development, the commissioners said.
It was in February that, with commission approval, Gary Plastic Packaging Corp. announced it would move its operations from Bronx, N.Y., to occupy 207,000 square feet of the structure for manufacturing, office, warehouse and distribution services.