A mixed-use development proposed for a 121-acre property off Shelton’s Bridgeport Avenue really will be a success if approved, a marketing consultant hired by the developer assured the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
But as many in the audience of about 40 people at City Hall said during a hearing earlier this month — that’s just what they’re afraid of.
“This thing is going to light up like an airport,” said Regis Dognin.
“It is just too big,” said Jan Girard. “The scale of this, it just does not belong in Shelton.”
Efforts made by the developer to soften the impact of the “Towne Center at Shelter Ridge” — like reducing the height of a proposed nine-story apartment building to a building with five- and four-story sections — didn’t do much to alleviate concerns.
Buddington Road resident Greg Tetro noted during the Sept. 7 hearing that the building would now have a much larger footprint as a result.
“I don’t really think that is an improvement,” he said.
The hearing will continue tonight (Wednesday Sept. 21) at 7 p.m. in the Shelton City Hall Auditorium with discussion of a traffic study prepared for the development.
Tetro, who has helped organize opposition to the development proposal, pointed out that residents have been weighing in on the plans since April, when the public hearing began.
In all that time, only one person not associated with the development has spoken in its favor.
“You have the consensus of the people,” Tetro went on. “The citizens of Shelton have spoken.”
Caitlin Augusta, a Mill Street resident and one of the administrators of the SOS Save Our Shelton Facebook page, said the group has “engaged” more than 20,000 people online, most of them Shelton residents.
“That’s about 7,000 more people just on Facebook than voted in the 2014 election,” she said.
Marketing Report
Earlier in the hearing, Matt Felton, a Maryland-based marketing expert hired by the developer, presented detailed research he said showed a viable demand for the development.
Comparable “major shopping centers” are nearly all more than 10 minutes’ drive time from the site, Felton said.
“It’s a very strong site that would attract retailers, higher end retailers,” Felton said.
Specifically, he named Osh Kosh, Ann Taylor Loft, DSW, Pottery Barn, and Pier 1 Imports as the “types of retailers” that would find the location attractive.
Ron Pavluvcik, of Eagle’s Landing, who has spoken in favor of the proposal, said he still had one “valid concern” — that it will end up being filled with a pizza restaurant and a nail salon.
“We have 20 of each of those businesses already elsewhere in Shelton,” he said.
Dominick Thomas, the lawyer representing the developer, said the cost of the development means they’ll need high-end stores to lease space.
“If you do not have the type of stores that we’re talking about, if you do not have the upscale stores, you’re not going to have the rents to sustain the site work and the off-site work that has to be done.”
Felton echoed Thomas’ comments.
“You can’t fill it with nail salons and pizza shops and make it work,” he said.
Traffic Details Coming
The public hearing will continue Wednesday with more details about a traffic study presented earlier in the hearing.
Increased traffic has been one of the most dominant concerns raised by residents throughout the past several months.
Click here, here, and here for previous stories.
After the developer’s initial presentation, the PZC hired an engineer of its own to go over the traffic study.
Both are scheduled to offer comments during Wednesday’s hearing, after which planning and zoning commissioners and the public will be given the opportunity to weigh in.
The commission may begin deliberating the merits of the project at its Oct. 11 meeting.
