The two properties are shown in this Google image of Main Street/Route 115 just past Road Ready looking toward Division Street. The building on the right will be home to a restaurant, brew pub, and event space to be installed in phases. The building down the road will remain a medical office.
ANSONIA — The city’s planning and zoning commission unanimously approved plans Monday for a new restaurant, a brew pub, and event space at 540 Main St.
There’s no word yet on what type of restaurant is going in. But it continues the resurgence of Ansonia’s Main Street.
“This is a good thing,” said Ansonia P&Z commissioner Timothy Holman.
“We’re expanding restaurant row,” said P&Z Chairman Jared Heon.
The three “uses” (planning term) and accompanying parking will be built in phases, according to a presentation by attorney Dominick Thomas in front of the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday (Aug. 30).
The one-story building at 540 Main St. is just east of Target and the Road Ready used car dealership. It has sat unused for years. Previous uses include a small eatery and, at one point, a farmer’s market.
Thomas said the property owner at 540 Main St. has had trouble developing the property because the previous owner had sold most of the rear-area parking to the former Healey Ford, which operated an automobile dealership next door.
Thomas said the owner of 540 Main St. was eventually able to purchase 560 Main St., a dental office/office building.
The new restaurant/brew pub/event space will create new parking combining the two properties. There’s on-street parking as well, Thomas said.
The building at 560 Main St. will remain an office-type building, Thomas said.
A new driveway will be constructed to access the properties. The state Department of Transportation will review the new plans to access Main Street (aka Route 115, a state-owned road).
The plan now calls for the three uses to be connected — in that they’re not three separate, independent entities. The business plan is still being worked out, Thomas said. Building permits still need to be pulled. Monday’s site plan approval was the first step in redeveloping the properties.
