A Shelton developer who served four years in a federal prison after being swept up in an FBI corruption probe returned to the public eye Tuesday.
The developer, James Botti, is an investor in a redevelopment project that could breathe new life into the long-shuttered Crabtree auto dealership at 405 Bridgeport Ave. in Shelton.
Botti and developer James Blakeman want to turn the 12-acre parcel into a shopping center, anchored by a grocery store.
The anchor tenant is strongly rumored to be Big Y, though no one involved in the application will reveal the tenant.
Botti ran afoul of federal agents investigating alleged corruption in Shelton among government officials and city employees — or, “greasing the wheel,” as a prosecutor called it.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti was a target in the probe, according to the feds, but he was never charged and denied involvement.
The investigation resulted in the convictions of developer Robert Scinto for lying to the FBI and former Shelton building official Eliot Wilson for lying to a grand jury about accepting cash and gifts from people doing business with the city.
Botti was convicted in 2010 of mail fraud and hiding financial transactions connected to his local business dealings.
He is on federal probation.
Botti was in Shelton City Hall Tuesday for a public meeting on the proposal in front of the city’s planning and zoning commission.
He didn’t speak during the meeting, but chatted briefly with the Valley Indy afterward.
“You guys love writing about me,” he joked.
The Valley Indy asked Botti if the Crabtree site was his first project since returning to the development business.
“No comment on that,” he said.
Several people who spoke during Tuesday’s meeting were critical of the Crabtree redevelopment plan. But Botti said he doesn’t plan to make changes.
“No, we’re going ahead full bore,” he said. “We hope to have it done by the end of next summer.”
The Project
In 2011, the planning and zoning commission approved a zone change at the old dealership so it could be redeveloped as a retail shopping center, but progress has been slow.
The building that housed the dealership was only recently torn down.
But now the developers have now found a tenant — a grocery store — to anchor the shopping center, according to Dominick Thomas, a lawyer representing the developers.
And that tenant wants to put in a gas station in addition to a grocery store.
Tuesday’s hearing was concerned solely with getting information and public input on the addition of the gas station under the “permitted uses” for the property.
Thomas would not name the tenant, but referred to it as “worst kept secret” in Shelton.
The Big Y supermarket chain has been identified by countless residents, including a state legislator, as the anchor tenant.
“I was told (by people who should know) that there will be a Big Y, a Long John Silver’s and an Auto Zone,” Jason Perillo, who represents Shelton in the state House of Representatives, posted in a Facebook thread Friday (June 24). “So you can get your groceries, fried fish and an oil filter all in one stop.”
The Valley Indy left a message at Big Y’s headquarters in Massachusetts Tuesday.
Thomas told city planners that the grocery store wants to put a gas station on the property, too.
“The retail sale of gasoline has become a staple of supermarkets,” Thomas said. “Our anchor store, which will bring in other tenants, has already brought in other tenants following it … they have requested this change.”
Thomas proposed four “restrictions” for the gas station:
- The gas station must be owned and operated by the supermarket;
- The gas station would be limited to a half-acre in the southwest part of the property;
- A kiosk at the gas station can only sell oil and other automotive additives, and have an air compressor;
- Motor vehicle repair or servicing would be prohibited on the site.
A detailed site plan for the development has not yet been presented. Thomas predicted it will be before the planning and zoning commission in a couple months.
Article continues after Google map of the area.
Neighbors Worried
Although the property is on Shelton’s commercial corridor, the roads behind the property — Nells Rock and Buddington roads — are residential.
In addition, they can be tricky to navigate because they’re narrow in spots and curvy.
About seven residents who spoke during the hearing said a gas station at the old Crabtree would only make a bad traffic situation worse.
“My concern is about the number of cars and the access and egress onto Nells Rock Road,” said Arthur Blanchard, a L’Hermitage Drive resident. “It’s particularly bad during the wintertime, when there’s ice on those roads, and blind corners and relatively steep grades.”
Bob Townley, who lives on Montagne Drive, said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to development at the site.
“I’m very happy to see the eyesore gone,” Townley said. “My concern is also traffic. Nells Rock Road is very congested, somewhat of a racetrack, and my concern is getting out of there in the morning is pretty difficult. So if traffic increases even 10, 15 percent, we’re going to have, I believe, some issues there.”
Renee Robillard, a resident of the nearby Country Place condominiums off Nells Rock Road, said residents there are also concerned about traffic, and asked that cars be prohibited from entering or exiting the property onto Nells Rock Road.
Manny Brideau, whose daughter owns a property across Buddington Road from the property, raised concerns about possible light and noise pollution from the property.
Lynne Farrell, a Buddington Park resident and member of the city’s Board of Aldermen from the Third Ward, said she wasn’t opposed to redevelopment — but had concerns about the gas station.
“It’s an asset compared to what there is now,” Farrell said. “However, I am against there being a gas station for what people have already said.”
She asked that if the zoners approve the gas station plan that they restrict the hours it’s open so it’s not too late at night.
A Country Walk resident said the traffic in the area gets “horrendous” at times and worried about more cars on Nells Rock Road trying to get into the property.
The commission’s chair, Ruth Parkins, said the plans approved in 2011 include an entrance to the property from Nells Rock Road, but vehicles would be prohibited from turning left from that road into the property.
“But again, this is all part of the conceptual plan,” Parkins said. “The final details will be worked out as we work with the developer.”
Bruce Scull, an Independence Drive resident, wondered what would happen if the supermarket closes, and handed the commission a list of Stop & Shop supermarkets that had shuttered, leaving gas stations behind.
“If the store fails, and stores do fail, you’ll be left with a gas station,” he said.
He also asked about the experience the mystery tenant will bring to the development. Scull owns a gas station in Huntington.
“The big secret grocery store, I think if you look, this will be their first gas station,” Scull said. “Do you want to be the guinea pig for them?”
The supermarket chain currently operates two “Big Y Express” gas stations, one in Pittsfield, Mass. and another in Lee, Mass.
Locally, Big Y operates stores in Ansonia, Monroe, and Stratford, none of which have gas stations. A location at 405 Bridgeport Ave. would be in the middle of a triangle drawn between those three locations.
The commission did not approve or reject the application Tuesday. Members voted unanimously to close the public hearing and will revisit the plan at subsequent meetings.
Thomas told the commission he anticipates returning with more detailed site plans within a couple months.
He said anyone who wants to be emailed a copy of the site plan once it’s completed can email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The original, 2011 site plan is posted below.
