Dealer to transform city site
Mercedes-Benz would add luxury business to Danbury’s west side
DANBURY — Plans to transform a stockpiling yard into a Mercedes-Benz dealership on the city’s booming west side represents a “dramatic improvement from longstanding existing conditions,” the dealer says.
The proposed $7 million dealership at Miry Brook and Sugar Hollow roads would be a major traffic generator, according to the city, adding 860 vehicle trips to the area on an average weekday and 1,615 car and truck trips on an average Saturday.
It will be up to Danbury's Planning Commission to weigh economic development benefits against quality-of-life effects — a process that begins Wednesday night with a public hearing.
“This application proposes to replace existing conditions with high-quality development and active economic use,” said the dealer's attorney, Meagan Miles, in a memo to the city. “The applicant recently purchased the property … to redevelop this highly visible site to a high standard with a new Mercedes-Benz sales and service center.”
Miles is referring to plans for a 2.5-acre site abutting Danbury Municipal Airport that serves as a gateway to an emerging high-end automotive sector of luxury dealerships and custom garages.
The property for years has been “used for a variety of industrial and commercial uses of dubious compliance with zoning,” Miles said.
“From 2018 until purchased by the applicant, the property was used for the storage of construction equipment and the stockpiling of soil and gravel,” Miles said. “For decades, this property has been underutilized, and predominantly used for industrial and commercial uses of doubtful compliance with zoning.”
Blueprints call for a two-story sales and service building with 250 parking spaces and 22 service bays. The second-story would be “dedicated to parking for vehicle storage and second-floor vehicle display.”
“The building is a European design with large-scale windows,” Miles said.
The Planning Commission's public hearing is the latest step in a plan by Curry Automotive, which has 12 dealerships in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Georgia. The city has already granted zoning variances and an environmental permit for construction. In addition to Planning Commission approval, Curry Automotive needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Among the affects the commission will weigh is traffic.
During the busiest time for traffic in the morning, the new dealership would add an extra 67 cars to the mix, according to Abdul Mohamed, the city's traffic engineer, in a memo this week to the commission. The dealership would add 82 extra car trips to the mix during the busiest time for traffic in the afternoon and it would add 125 extra vehicle trips during the busiest time for traffic on Saturday.
“Based on the projected traffic generation, the proposed land use is a major traffic generator,” Mohamed said.
Curry Automotive's application is also the latest activity by a luxury car business to establish itself in Danbury's emerging high-end auto niche.
In March, Danbury approved plans by a Nissan-Infiniti dealership to take over an empty retail building on Sugar Hollow Road, near Danbury Fair mall.
That dealership will join highend auto garages, luxury auto storage companies, and a specialty manufacturer of $450,000 sports cars further south on Miry Brook Road.