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05/11/2021 11:00 AMOld Saybrook’s Zoning Commission (ZC) unanimously denied on May 3 a special exception application by The Point, LLC, sending redevelopment of the former Dock and Dine property back to the drawing board.
The Point, LLC, had an application before the ZC to build Smoke on the Water, an outdoor restaurant at the Saybrook Point location for the former Dock and Dine. At the May 3 meeting, the ZC cited as a reason for its denial a lack of information that is required by the town’s zoning regulations to be submitted with applications. Additionally, a proposed pavilion structure to be built on the site violates the 100-foot CT River Gateway Conservation Zone structure setback, the commission said.
Due to the lack of information present in the application, technical staff could not complete their reviews for the project.
“There were a lot of specific details missing that made it hard for the departments to review the application,” Old Saybrook Zoning Enforcement Officer Chris Costa told the Harbor News.
Among the missing materials, the application lacked information about the landscaping and parking plan for the property. An April 26 letter from Old Saybrook Building Official Tom Makowicki noted that the plans lacked clear information on where tents would go, a drawing of electrical platforms and buildings, and signed and stamped plans from a designer. Police Chief Michael Spera also submitted a letter noting his concerns with items like noise, traffic, and the ability for law enforcement to respond to issues at the site.
With the application denied, the applicants are free to fix the incomplete material and resubmit the application.
Smoke on the Water is a proposed outdoor trailer-based restaurant on the site of the former Dock and Dine at Saybrook Point. The Dock and Dine was a popular restaurant that stood at Saybrook point until the double whammy of Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011 and then Superstorm Sandy in 2012 rendered the restaurant inoperable. The property has remained vacant despite interest in redeveloping the area.
Complicating matters, new FEMA requirements have placed additional regulations on any construction that would take place there.
“In a VE zone, FEMA requires the construction of any structure, whether residential or commercial, to be built to withstand wave action,” Costa told the Harbor News earlier in 2021. For any area of the building that is “below the floodplain, the walls are supposed to break away so the water doesn’t compromise the structure,” she added.
To get around those regulations, Smoke on Water proposed using trailers for everything from salad preparation to restrooms. At a March 22 special meeting, the ZC approved some changes to the zoning regulations that further cleared the way for the restaurant to become a reality, before the incomplete application was shot down.
While some people were excited by the news of serious interest at the Dock and Dine property, not everyone was in favor of the Smoke on the Water proposal. More than 70 residents of the North Cove neighborhood signed a petition objecting to the proposal. North Cove is located a short distance from the proposal and the petition signees expressed concerns about odors, noise, parking at Saybrook Point, and other related issues.
David and Earla Frisbie, who live in the North Cove area, have hired attorney Evan J. Seeman of Robinson + Cole in Hartford. A letter written on their behalf from his office states that though the couple isn’t concerned with an indoor restaurant going in the site, they are concerned about an outdoor one and the amplified music and noise it could bring. The letter also alleged that approval of the project would “constitute illegal ‘spot zoning’ under Connecticut law because it would benefit a single property and individual.”