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07/16/2019 12:00 AMFollowing re-subdivisions and amendments to town zoning codes, the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) approved plans for the construction of a Hampton Inn and Suites on a lot currently belonging to Cinemark on Universal Drive.
Previous regulations would have restricted the hotel to a smaller size based on land requirements per number of rooms. An exemption given in January allowed the hotel to go forward with 105 units on a 2.5 acre lot.
The site plan was presented by Jeffrey Gordon of Codespoti & Associates, a design and planning organization located in Orange.
Gordon said that the hotel will staff between 30 and 40 people after construction.
The Hampton Inn and Suites will be a prototype building featuring “smart rooms,” the first of its kind in the state. These rooms will offer connectivity so that guests can control the television, door locks, and other technology with the use of their smart phones.
“You can do most anything with your cellphone when you’re tied into the room,” Gordon said.
The hotel will also have a pool and a patio housed in a single story wing. The hotel will have 114 parking spaces, exceeding the minimum 109 spaces required by zoning. Gordon said the development of the hotel will cost between $13- and $14 million.
The hotel is just one part of the development of Cinemark. The PZC also approved the site plan for a Panera bread location to be built on a lot neighboring the hotel.
At its June meeting, the PZC approved a plan to subdivide the Cinemark property to include a plot at 600 Universal Avenue. John Schmidt from BL Companies, who presented the June subdivision application, returned to present a site plan for the proposed Panera Bread location.
Schmidt presented a revised plan to the PZC including a drive through, 65 parking spaces, and two access points to the 4,375 square foot building.
The PZC was not entirely satisfied with the proposed traffic flow around the new projects.
“I just thought that one particular entrance was awkward,” said Town Engineer Andrew Bevilacqua. “There wasn’t enough stacking. Vehicles that were coming from the hotel and coming from Panera Bread, there just wasn’t proper space for cars to make proper stacking and make proper turns.”
The plan was approved with revised parking lot connectors and an agreement that the developers would continue to work with Bevilacqua.
The PZC was also pleased to see that the site plan included a number of trees along the street.