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06/19/2015 10:44 AMThe voters were ready; but the resolution was not.
On June 18, rather than voting whether to approve Costco's master plan and application for a special exception and Planned Development District (PDD) at Exit 56, Branford's Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) instead received its first glance at the full resolution, including conditions the PZC laid out two weeks earlier.
The PZC will now vote on the matter on July 9, 7 p.m. at Branford Fire Headquarters. The item will be brought up under "old business" on the regular PZC meeting agenda.
In announcing the vote needed to be delayed, PZC chairman Ellsworth McGuigan told June 18 audience members the document he was being handed at that moment was his first view of the written resolution.
"I really would like to see a resolution in written form before I act on it as a commission member. I have it in front of me right now; if you wait an hour and half I might be able to read it...no, I would like to hold this over as an item and take a final vote on it after we have a chance to look at the written resolution that we have before us now," said McGuigan, adding, "I would like the staff to look at the resolution, offer their comments on the resolution, and we will bring it up at the next meeting, finally."
McGuigan said he went to town offices earlier in the day at 10 a.m. to review the written document, but it wasn't ready.
Town Attorney Bill Aniskovich offered to comment on the resolution or summarize it for the PZC; but "at a minimum" said he wanted to draw attention to two typographical errors, a couple of mismatched reference numbers related to findings.
"The staff has seen this today and commented to some degree on it; and late in the day there were some additions to the findings," said Aniskovich.
A copy of the resolution is available for viewing with this story.
As reported earlier at Zip06, at the June 4 PZC meeting, three of five voting members affirmed that, with the PZC's agreed-upon conditions drafted into the resolution, they would support Costco's special exception request,application and master plan. PZC conditions include a maximum impervious coverage of 60 percent (parking, driveway, access roads), with any existing coverage as of May 1, 2015 excepted; total lot coverage not to exceed 30 percent, with existing building improvements of May 1, 2015 not to exceed 39 percent coverage; and construction of the entire interior road with additional access across from the current TA Travel Center driveway on East Industrial Road (another access point on the road is already planned across from Exit 56). The PZC added banks, medical offices and biopharmaceutical labs as types of businesses allowed to the list provided by Costco. Expectations (not conditions) voiced by the PZC include having Costco honor plan descriptions of finish materials such as Stony Creek granite, and plans to incorporate an area "gateway." The PZC also expects the full master plan will be reviewed by Branford's Inland Wetlands Agency. As the town's land use agency, the PZC expects to have input, at the state level, on traffic system planning.
Since February, Costco Wholesale Co. has been pursing a special exception permit to allow its vision of the master plan submitted as of its PDD application. The special exception allows large-scale retail into a current light industrial/small retail zone accessible from I-95 at Exit 56. Costco intends to connect five contiguous parcels currently owned by different entities to create a 44-acre PDD. Phase One constructs two retail buildings (total coverage, approximately 160,000 square feet) to allow for a Costco wholesale club and gas station on the majority of the 44-acre site. The PZC's conditional language requires completing all access drives and the interior circulation "ring road" for the entire development as part of Phase One. Phase Two of the PDD calls for seven to-be-determined retail/commercial/restaurant buildings added to the site later.
The PZC's final vote on July 9 will have followed a highly attended, four-part public hearing (April 2 — May 7). PZC deliberations began May 21. On June 4, McGuigan and commissioners Charles "Chuck" Andres and Marcia Palluzzi showed they were favorable to approving the application, with PZC conditions added. Commissioners John Lust and Joe Chadwick continued to raise objections. Lust said he didn't feel it to be consistent with the Plan of Conservation and Development, adding the master plan is incomplete and traffic information is not adequate. Chadwick feels Costco hasn't sufficiently quantified beneficial reasons necessitating the special exception.
See stories on the PZC's past discussions, and more on the Costco public hearings, at www.zip06.com/branford.