The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended abandoning the section of Access Road in front of the former Crabtree car dealership, a step toward developing the vacant site.
The Board of Aldermen has the final say on the issue, including the option to do nothing with the road. But keeping it means trouble for developer Monty Blakeman, who wants to turn the former dealership at 405 – 407 Bridgeport Ave. into a retail shopping center.
The site has sat vacant since the dealership closed suddenly in mid-2007.
Dominick Thomas, lawyer for the developer, was pleased with the recommendation and vowed to submit a development proposal. But the issue with the road is not over, he said.
“We have to wait for the state,” Thomas said, adding that he and corporation counsel were talking to the state about the road. The developer had withdrawn a proposal at July’s meeting because of the Access Road issue.
In a letter to Zoning Administrator Rick Schultz, City Engineer Robert F. Kulacz called for four conditions in abandoning, selling or discontinuing Access Road, including that the buyer must close off the intersection with Nells Rock Road and connect it to Bridgeport Avenue at no cost to the city. It would be melded into any development, Thomas said.
Before its vote, Thomas and the panel sparred over traffic access to any development on the site. Thomas asked about letting traffic exit further down Access Road near Wal-Mart, but Chairman Anthony Pogoda disagreed.
“We find that unacceptable,” he said.
Consultant Anthony Panico asked what the developer would do if the state refused to sell the road, but Thomas said it would not be an issue.
“The state [Department of Transportation] wants that entire area brought out. The risk is so minuscule it’s not even considerable,” Thomas said.
