Zoning Board of Appeals

CITY OF NORWICH ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Wednesday November 13, 2018 Meeting Minutes The regular meeting of the City of Norwich Zoning Board of Appeals was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken. PRESENT: Marc Benjamin, Chairman David Martin Dorothy Travers Gregory Schlough, Alternate Kevin Saythany, Alternate Robert Phoenix, Alternate ABSENT: Mark Kulos, Peter Cuprak OTHERS: Richard Shuck, Zoning Enforcement Officer, and Katherine Rose, Recording Secretary Marc Benjamin called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Marc Benjamin stated all 5 members would be seated D. COMMUNICATIONS: Marc Benjamin presented a resignation letter from Mark Kulos due to conflicts with Board of Education Meetings. New members Kevin Saythany and Gregory Schlough introduced themselves to the board. E. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES: Robert Phoenix made a motion to approve the minutes of the September 4, 2018 meeting with the typographical errors “his” to be replaced with Mr. Kulos. Dorothy Travers seconded as amended. Motion carried unanimously. F. OLD BUSINESS: None G. NEW BUSINESS: V#18-11: 680 Boswell Ave. Application of Jai Bajrangbali, LLC, Niral Patel for property located at 680 Boswell Ave. in a General Commercial zoning district. Assessor’s Map #79, Block #1, Lot #4, Owner: Marteen Hanania, requesting relief of ZR Sed. 6.2.1 to reduce the separation distance for the sale of alcohol from 1,500 ft. to 1,420 ft. for a total reduction of 80 ft. to allow the removal of an existing permit at 20 Norwich Ave to be issued at new location at 680 Boswell Ave. Robert Phoenix asked the owner if there was a conflict with the current appliance company tenant being in the same building. Owner Marteen Hanania responded he is no longer in the building and the new proposed tenants are of no relation to the previous. Richard Shuck read into the record Exhibits “A-M” Niral Patel of 5 White Tail Run, Auburn, MA and Roheed Patel of 8 Bridlepath, Auburn, MA introduced themselves as the business owner and liquor permittee holder accordingly. Niral Patel stated they are currently in the old Starwoods Plaza and are looking to relocate due to the closing of Starwoods and depleted traffic caused by it. Mr. Patel said they are not able to move into Taftville as it is a different zip code so it would require a new permit and they 1 of 3 would like to stay in the neighborhood they have been work in our years. Niral Patel said there is no other space available to avoid 80 foot distance reduction they are requesting. Richard Shuck explained that Kenny P’s Liquor store at 647 North Main Street is within a 1,500 ft. distance from the property of 680 Boswell Ave in aerial distance per the existing regulation. Richard Shuck also referred to Exhibit K to show that between the existing location and proposed location there is residential zones so there are limited options for the applicant to choose from. Dave Martin questioned why there is a 1,500 ft. limit for liquor stores and Richard Shuck responded that he was not certain but believes it may relate to preventing a congestion of liquor stores. Marc Benjamin clarified with Niral and Roheed Patel that the existing hardship would be a lack of general commercial properties in the desired neighborhood and they are looking to leave their existing property due to the lack of business traffic and because the landlord is likely looking to demolish the building since Subway, that is also in the plaza, will be leaving by June of 2019. Marc Benjamin opened the floor to anyone who would like to speak in favor of the appeal. Marteen Hanania of 88 Spicer Hill Road in Ledyard stated this area is lacking a lot of good business people and with businesses moving out it’s becoming a ghost town. Mr. Hanania reiterated that good tenants are hard to come by and he feels the Patels are exactly that. Marteen Hanania asked for the Board’s support in helping keep the area alive. Marc Benjamin asked if there had been any improvements to the 680 Boswell Property in regards to flooding. Mr. Hanania said he repaved and has been keeping up with the seal coat which seems to have helped a lot. Marc Benjamin made a motion to close the Public Hearing at 7:28 PM. Dorothy Travers seconded. Motion carried unanimously. H. DISCUSSION / DECISION ON APPLICATIONS 1. V#18-11: 680 Boswell Ave. Application of Jai Bajrangbali, LLC, Niral Patel for property located at 680 Boswell Ave. in a General Commercial zoning district. Assessor’s Map #79, Block #1, Lot #4, Owner: Marteen Hanania, requesting relief of ZR Sed. 6.2.1 to reduce the separation distance for the sale of alcohol from 1,500 ft. to 1,420 ft. for a total reduction of 80 ft. to allow the removal of an existing permit at 20 Norwich Ave to be issued at new location at 680 Boswell Ave. Robert Phoenix made a motion to open and approve the request. David Martin seconded. Robert Phoenix agreed that there is a hardship on the applicant due to the lack of available commercial property and due to the Liquor Commission of Connecticut’s limits on moving the liquor license from Norwich to Taftville, compounded by the line distance opposed to linear footage. Dorothy Travers added that the 1,500 ft. limitation has been in place for decades and had caused conflicts in the past but she could understand the applicant’s problem due to the current property landlord’s inability to fix the issues with his property. David Martin stated he agreed with everything that had been said regarding the minimal distances being discussed and posed no objection. Kevin Saythany agreed with Page 2 of 3  the other Board members and also posed no objection. Marc Benjamin stated he will be supporting the application for all of the reasons previously mentioned the current location is a problematic property and the area is drying up. Marc Benjamin said we need to protect our commercial properties and businesses and without a viable tenant we will lose another property, that being 680 Boswell. Marc Benjamin said he believes the 80 ft. request is negligible Marc Benjamin called for a vote in favor. The variance approved unanimously. I. OTHER MATTERS: Marc Benjamin put forth a motion to adopt the 2019 Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting Calendar. Kevin Saythany seconded. The motion carried unanimously. J. ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Robert Phoenix to adjourn at 7:36 PM. Dorothy Travers seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Katherine Rose Recording Secretary Page 3 of 3