Citing heavy public opposition, a developer has withdrawn a plan to put a 20-unit condo development on a 2‑acre parcel on Shelton Road next to an arboretum.
The developer, John Guedes, sent a letter to Shelton Zoning Administrator Rick Schultz Dec. 2 advising the city of the withdrawal and authorizing the PZC to cancel a public hearing on the project scheduled to continue Jan. 5.
Guedes indicated in an email Wednesday (Dec. 3) that he changed his mind about the development after seeing so many people speaking out against it.
“I decided that 39 Shelton Road is too emotional for some people and would be too much of a distraction,” Guedes said. “I still believe it would make a great location for commuter housing. But, I have been in this business long enough to know what fights are worth fighting!”
Asked whether he plans on adjusting the proposal for 39 Shelton Road and resubmitting it at a later date, Guedes said that he wants to focus on his company’s other developments.
“We have a number of other major projects in Shelton that we need to focus on,” Guedes wrote in an e‑mail. “Such as the next phases of the Shelton River Front Development on Canal Street.”
His letter is posted below.
The application called for the 20 condos to be contained within four buildings on the property, with a total of no more than 44 bedrooms in the development, called “Pond Meadow.”
The buildings would be three and a half stories, or about 60 feet, in height. Each condo would have two parking spaces.
Guedes previously said the condos would be attractive to commuters because of easy access to nearby Route 8.
Article continues after a picture of the area from Google Earth.
The public hearing on the project began Nov. 18, where more than 20 members of the public spoke out against it, citing mainly traffic and environmental concerns.
Many members of the Shelton Land Conservation Trust also asked the commission to reject the proposal, worrying what it would mean for the Bushinsky Arboretum, a park on an abutting property.
Click here to read more about the public hearing.
Guedes is the head of Primrose Companies, the company overseeing the redevelopment of Shelton’s downtown riverfront from an industrial sector to a residential destination.
On Canal Street, Guedes’ company has already overseen the transformation of the old corset factory into the Birmingham Condominiums, as well as the construction of the Avalon apartment complex.
He now wants to transform the Spongex building — the L‑shaped structure on Canal Street to the immediate south of the Derby-Shelton bridge, into apartments, and build an office and retail building next to it.
Click here for more information from a previous story.
Aldermen in March approved a plan to sell Guedes a property to the south of the Spongex building as part of the plans. But detailed site plans for the project have yet to go before the city’s land use boards.