This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
07/17/2018 12:00 AMDuring discussions about the recent U-Haul application, Town Attorney Chuck Andres told the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) to be confident in its decision because both options are likely to spark an appeal. Andres was right: Just a few weeks after PZC approved the U-Haul application, two neighboring property owners have filed to appeal the decision.
The appeal was filed in new Haven Superior Court on June 28. The plaintiffs listed are Tower Motel of Guilford LLC, Guilford Tower, LLC, and Boston Post Road, LLC. The defendants listed in the appeal include Americo Real Estate Company, also referred to as U-Haul, Charles Mannix, and the Town of Guilford Planning & Zoning Commission.
The appeal document lists numerous grounds for the appeal, many of which had been topics for discussion and deliberation during the PZC hearings including the height of the building, the non-conforming use, specifics of a special permit application, and many others.
“I would reiterate a comment made by [Town Planner] George [Kral] and Chuck [Andres],” said PZC Chair Philip Johnson. “It’s quite likely that no matter the decision of the PZC that there was a very good chance this would be appealed. We really tried to cover all the appeal bases on both the approval and denial. I believe there was ample legal ground for either approval or denial.”
All three defendants claim to be aggrieved by the commission’s decision to approve the application and Boston Post Road, LLC, owned by vocal opponent to the application David Milano, claims he will suffer special injury because the residential property he owns near the U-Haul lot is not yet developed.
In seeking the appeal, all three parties ask that the PZC decision to approve the application be reversed and “order such other and further relief as this court may deem just, proper, and equitable, and award costs of this complaint/appeal.”
The U-Haul proposal first came before PZC in spring 2017. At the time, concerns were raised about how far the new building would be set back from Route One and the fact that the application came before PZC without formal review from the Design Review Committee (DRC). Concerns delayed the application to a point that it had to be withdrawn and resubmitted.
Nearly a year after its first proposal, U-Haul returned to PZC on April 4 for the first public hearing seeking approval for a special permit and site plan application to build a new storage and rental space on Boston Post Road. The proposed facility would be located at 301 Boston Post Road, on the corner of Route 1 and Tanner Marsh Road on what was formerly the Mannix Motors site and where U-Haul currently operates.
The U-Haul proposal includes renovating the existing structure on the site and building a second structure for storage.
The site will include more than 400 storage spaces within the two buildings, U-Haul trucks for rent including seven trucks parked within 30 feet of the front of the property, a new landscape buffer along the Post Road including a perimeter of trees, and a new sidewalk along the Boston Post Road.
Under the new application submitted by the U-Haul Corporate Office on behalf of the current building owner, the structure doesn’t exceed the maximum height allowance of 40 feet, according to the town planner. U-Haul requested and received a variance to set the storage facility back further from the main road; the storage building can now be constructed 70 feet back from the Post Road rather than 50 feet. The proposal has also received Inland Wetlands Commission approval and a favorable review from DRC.
Milano, who owns another storage facility in the area and the lot across the street, declined to comment. Additionally, Kral would not comment on the appeal, but said U-Haul has not yet pulled any building permits; he noted that U-Haul is still able to do so even during an appeal process.
U-Haul officials could not be reached by press time.
The PZC Decision
After many heated meetings and fierce debate among residents, PZC approved the U-Haul application by a 5-2 vote on June 6. While acknowledging that residents had spoken out in opposition of the project, many commission members said there was no legal reason to deny the application based on the town regulations.
More than 50 residents packed into the community center to hear the discussions, many armed with orange signs with phrases like “Too big, too bright, too many trucks,” “Protect Guilford,” and “No U-Haul”. In addition to the signs, many residents carried a scorecard that had popped up on social media before the meeting. The card had pictures of each commissioner with boxes to keep track of the “Yes” and “No” votes. The scorecard even went as far as to point of that PZC Commissioner Richard Wallace is married to Board of Finance member Veronica Wallace.
Lengthy motions for approval and denial were both read into the record. Some commissioners pointed out that the project received a favorable review from the DRC and that this U-Haul building wouldn’t look like any other U-Haul building in the state.
Johnson said while applicant has worked had to change the building to fit DRC, he still was opposed to the project, while other members of the commission said the new building would be an improvement upon what the site currently looks like.
The consensus among those who voted in favor of the application was not that they were thrilled with the idea of a U-Haul, but that there is no strong legal case to deny the application.
“I understand what the people are saying who don’t want it, but I can’t justify not voting for it,” said Commissioner Allyn Brown. “…Everything I have heard from the ‘When I come over the hill and see the sunset’ to everything else that has been said, the arguments just aren’t there to stop it, only the fact that you don’t like it.”
Commissioners also said they can’t deny the application on the hope that something better might come along. Ultimately the commission voted 5-2 to approve the application, a decision that did not sit well with many members of the audience.
Outside of the meeting room, residents gathered to discuss the outcome. U-Haul Connecticut Company President Pete Sciortino approached the group and started to say that U-Haul will be the best neighbor possible, but was quickly cut off.
“We don’t want you here,” replied resident Patricia Klindienst. “Period, okay? We don’t think you actually deserve to be approved. You do not meet the regulations and we are going to set out to prove that.”