An image from the project's site plan.
ANSONIA — Members of the city’s planning and zoning commission approved plans on April 4 to add a gas station and convenience store to a property at 557 Wakelee Ave., the site of the former John J. Sullivan’s restaurant and catering hall.
The site plan (click here to open a large PDF of the plans) includes 119 parking spaces, and the property owner plans to lease a state right-of-way area Route 8 from the state Department of Transportation to provide some additional room for the redevelopment project.
The property is next to the Route 8 north exit 19 offramp, not far from a Shell gas station and the Tri-Town Plaza in Seymour.
The plans from developer Wakelee Enterprises LLC do not include a motel, which was part of the company’s original plans in 2021. That proposal drew opposition from city officials and neighbors who said motels would trigger an increase in crime.
While the plan for the motel was cut, the approved plans call for, essentially, a mini-rest top off exit 19 of Route 8 north. There will be a gas station, with a new convenience store across from it. In addition, a new restaurant is planned in an existing separate building that previously housed Molto Bene and, prior to that, J.J. Sullivan’s. A tent will be added to the existing restaurant building to provide a space for outdoor dining.
All the uses are allowed, according to city zoning regulations. While the property is zoned for commercial use, the other side of Wakelee Avenue has many residential houses heading toward Franklin Street. The Nolan Field athletic complex is nearby, too.
Neighbors and the owner of a nearby gas station have expressed concerns about the potential traffic problems a new gas station could create on Wakelee Avenue, especially if there is a line of vehicles waiting on line to get fuel.
The developer’s representatives — attorney Dominick Thomas and Michael Mastrogiacomo of Mastrogiacomo Engineering — said the traffic flow pattern inside the property is designed so there won’t be backups onto Wakelee Avenue. A tractor-trailer to fill the underground fuel-storage tanks will access an out-of-the-way area behind the convenience store, they said.
The gas station could be in operation 24 hours a day, according to a statement of use on file in Ansonia City Hall. However, the hours depend on the vendor that operates the station. As of last week a vendor had not been named. That vendor will also have to file information with city hall about how much noise and light the gas station will create.
Members of the planning and zoning commission (and city hall staff) asked the developer to add small trees and shrubberies to the properties so that it is not an all-pavement parking area. In addition, the commissioners asked that some type of barrier be erected to prevent vehicles from exiting Route 8 north at exit 19 from accidentally crashing into the gas station. The off ramp is curvy, which can take motorists going too fast by surprise.
