DERBY — A public hearing is scheduled April 21 in front of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission on a plan to put two generators for Griffin Hospital on Spring Street.

The hospital already received approvals in 2025 from the Derby Zoning Board of Appeals and the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission to build a MRI building behind the hospital on Spring Street.

The hospital returned to the planning and zoning commission March 17 asking to modify those previously approved plans by adding two industrial grade combination heat and power generators.

The generators would be used to support the entire hospital, not just the previously-approved MRI building.

Paul Dinice, a member of the commission, said Griffin never mentioned the generators, which he said are half the size of the Aldermanic Chambers, during the city’s review of the MRI addition. The MRI proposal had to clear both the city’s zoning board of appeals and the planning and zoning commission.

Dinice said he had “deep, deep procedural concerns” about the project. He said the proposal for the generators should go back to the ZBA.

Dominick Thomas, the lawyer representing the hospital, said the generators can be added because the variance granted from the ZBA applies to the property, not just the MRI project. Thomas also said neighbors notified in the Spring Street area have said nothing negative about what’s happening.

The discussion was cut short because the commission opted to host a public hearing April 27. Commissioner Aniello “Owney” Malerba III told Thomas and Dinice to save their comments for the public hearing.

A time was not officially set for the public hearing. The planning and zoning commission meetings usually start at 7 p.m. Check the city website for an update on the start time of the public hearing.

New Chairman

In other Derby Planning and Zoning Commission news, Mayor Joseph DiMartino opted not to reappoint Gino DiGiovanni to the commission. DiGiovanni’s five-year term ended at the end of February.

DiGiovanni had been the commission’s chairman since around the summer of 2024, a review of meeting minutes show.

DiGiovanni spoke during the public comment portion of the March 17 commission meeting, thanking members both new and old. He also said appointments to the board have become politicized, something he said he didn’t like to see.

DiGiovanni is the chairman of the Republican Party in Derby and was one of four candidates for mayor in 2023, a campaign DiMartino, a Democrat, won.

Members of the commission voted to appoint Malerba the new chairman, with Denice as vice chairman.

Correction: the original version of this article said the public hearing was April 27. That was incorrect. It is scheduled for April 21.