A rendering of a restaurant and apartment building proposed for 62 Center St. in Shelton.
A Shelton resident and a neighboring property owner asked city zoners to reject plans for a downtown apartment building because getting around the area is difficult enough as it is.
The new building — which would include a 5,000-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor and 42 apartments on three upper floors — is planned for a property at the intersection of Center Street and Coram Avenue.
The property is currently home to Jeff’s Appliance, Chantal’s Beauty Salon, Gary’s East Coast Service, and a three-family home.
A limited liability company bought the property for $410,000 last year with a view to redeveloping it.
A view of the property from the intersection of Center Street and Coram Avenue.
Click here for a previous story about the proposal.
The company is managed by Brett Fodiman. He has a residence in Shelton and is also an executive at Boston Nightlife Ventures, which runs a half-dozen bars and restaurants.
The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the project June 28.
After presentations from the developer’s lawyer, engineer, and architect, Division Street resident Russell Gillette rose to address the commission.
He said his daily drive through the intersection is already an unpleasant experience without the addition of a restaurant and three-and-a-half dozen apartments.
“Traffic going through this way, it’s a mess already,” he said. “I don’t see how this development is going to make it any better. It seems like the aim is not to make it worse, and we should be trying to make things better.”
“Yes, we need development to (increase the grand list) and generate some revenue, but we can’t make things worse for existing residents in the process,” Gillette said.
Next, neighboring property owner Pat Civitella spoke.
Civitella owns 52 Center St., with Shelton Printing.
He doubted the developer’s plan to use a right of way between his building and Porky’s as an entrance to the property was feasible.
He said a wooden porch used by apartments at his building has beet hit at least six times by trucks.
“It’s constantly being nicked,” he said.
Civitella also brought up concerns about adding to parking and traffic.
“Parking and traffic is ridiculous,” he said. “Forget about Friday night after 3 p.m. Just go down there.”
Gillette said the commission should hold off on adding more housing downtown until the city addresses traffic and parking issues
“We have more housing coming in at Bridge Street Commons, we have more housing planned on Canal Street,” he said. “We’re adding 42 more apartment units here? This is going to cause significant problems for people trying to get to Route 8, (for people) going down to Bridgeport Avenue.”
The developer’s lawyer, Dominick Thomas, said the city could reduce the parking problem by making improvements on Constitution Boulevard.
He said people could park at a large public parking lot near the Conti Building on Howe Avenue.
“There are communities that would die to have your traffic problem and your parking problem,” he said. “In the downtown when you have both, you have people and you have businesses coming downtown.”
The commission voted to close the public hearing on the application at the end of the meeting, but took no other action.
Their next meeting is July 11 at 7 p.m.
