Planning & Zoning Commission

CITY OF TORRINGTON PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 13, 2024 Present: Greg Mele – Chairman Donna Greco - Member Diane Carroll – Alternate (Seated for Commissioner Perosino) Starley Arias – Alternate (Remote, Seated for Commissioner Bobinski) Also Present: Jeremy Leifert - City Planner and applicants Not Present: Greg Perosino – Vice Chair, Jim Bobinski - Member, Donovan Riley - Member, Tom Telman – Alternate 1. Call to Order: Chairman Mele called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Attendance is by Zoom or in-person at City Hall Auditorium, Room 218, 140 Main Street, Torrington, CT. 2. Attendance/Announcement: Chairman Mele opened the meeting at 7:00 pm and announced present and serving this evening in person are Members Donna Greco, seated alternate Diane Carroll and Chairmen Greg Mele. Serving remotely is seated alternate Starley Arias. Also present in the auditorium is City Planner Jeremy Leifert as well as applicants. 3. Minutes for Approval: a. September 25, 2024 Meeting MOTION by Commissioner Carroll to approve the minutes of September 25, 2024 as presented. Motion seconded by Commissioner Greco. Motion passed unanimously. b. October 9, 2024 Special Meeting Chairman Mele stated that the review of the October 9, 2024 minutes will be tabled until next meeting since they are not yet completed. 4. Public Hearings: Chairman Mele noted that there are no public hearings scheduled for this meeting. Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes – November 13, 2024 Page 1 of 6 5. Old Business: a. Site Plan Application #1535 Location: 160 Church Street, Assessor’s Map 117 Block 006 Lot 007 168 Church Street, Assessor’s Map 118 Block 002 Lot 009 Applicant: City of Torrington – Engineering/Public Works Proposal: Site Development of Park Land, Parking Lot, and Multi-use Trail Paul Kundzins, City Engineer presented the plans for the site, which is part of a larger development known as the Railroad Square Revitalization project, which also includes the old rail station and Kelley Bus terminal. This project will redevelop the two properties abutting Christmas Village. The property to the rear of Christmas Village will be a new paved parking lot for public use, and the property to the side of Christmas Village will be utilized for small park land improvements. A future extension of the Sue Grossman Trail will be along the side of both properties bordering the railroad tracks. Mr. Leifert read his memo into the record. Chairman Mele asked about the construction schedule for the project. Mr. Kundzins answered by the end of 2025. Mr. Arias asked about impacts to surrounding road. Mr. Kundzins noted reconstruction of John Street as a one-way street to accommodate the trail and expansion of Memorial Drive for enhanced access to Church Street. He stated there will be minimal impact on current traffic otherwise. Ms. Carroll asked about the entry to Christmas Village. Mr. Kundzins confirmed that other than the Memorial Drive improvements, no other changes to Christmas Village are planned. MOTION by Commissioner Greco to APPROVE site plan #1535 with conditions as read into the record. Motion seconded by Commissioner Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. 6. New Business: a. Site Plan Application #1537 Location: 100 Lawton Street Applicant: Michael Boe, Architect on behalf of 100 Lawton, LLC Proposal: Change of use of a portion of the building to Small Manufacturing and Retail; parking lot and ADA site improvements Michael Boe, Architect presented the plans for the site, which constitutes a change of use from Manufacturing to Light Manufacturing and Retail. This project encompasses the use of South side of the first floor of this 133,000 sq ft former factory with some areas of the Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes – November 13, 2024 Page 2 of 6  first floor and the entire second story remaining unoccupied. The applicant is providing the required handicap spaces plus excess. The front of the building is at grade, so they will enter a lobby at the lower level and ascend an interior stairway to the 1st floor. This business is for artisans to have small cubicles to sell their wares and space to fabricate. There will be manufacturing space and studio spaces. Vendors are lined up to occupy the site. Ms. Carroll asked if this was similar to Whiting Mills in Winsted and Hurley Manufacturing in New Hartford. Mr. Boe answered that it is not like Hurley Manufacturing which is antique dealers. These are cubicles that are 8 x 4 feet with space to hang displays with the rest of the space being open. Ms. Carroll asked if there would be more parking than at Whiting Mills. Mr. Boe answered that there are over 100 parking spaces in the lot unlike Whiting Mill which has limited parking. Chairman Mele asked if most of the booths would be absentee run with a couple of staff acting as cashiers. Mr. Boe called Eric Royer, the applicant, to answer that question. Mr. Royer stated that the plan for this business is like the shops at Riverton. It will be unmanned shops where everyone has a physical store location, in which the products are bar coded and handled by an employee for checkout. This allows the consumer to purchase from multiple shops at once. The other intention is to create a makers’ space for Torrington residents who rent or live in condominiums to access manufacturing equipment they can’t access individually. Mr. Royer is thinking of this enterprise as a business incubator. Artisans can start here and then graduate to their own store front or studio. Ms. Carroll asked the size of the manufacturing portion. Mr. Royer and Mr. Boe answered that it is about 4000 sq ft. Chairman Mele asked if a resident would rent the makers’ space by the hour. Mr. Royer said they were planning a monthly membership fee for access. Some equipment needs training certification to use, and there would be closed circuit cameras for security. 38 Vendors have signed up so far. Of the 38, only three of the vendors are local. Every vendor who has a space will be providing a webstore and the applicant will take care of point of sale, shipping and handling. Ms. Carroll asked if special ventilation would be needed if someone doing ceramics rented studio space. Mr. Royer answered that anything needing special ventilation would need all proper systems and permits. His plan is the grow the enterprise in whatever direction is required or desired by the artisans using it. Mr. Mele asked if there were exterior changes particularly, he observed new exterior lighting. Mr. Boe answered that they are adding light fixtures wall washers that are Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes – November 13, 2024 Page 3 of 6  inbound around the perimeter. The Gulf Stream runs at the edge of the property, the railroad at the back of the property, and residential property at Lawton Street, self-storage units and more residential surround the property. Chairman Mele asked about future signage. Mr. Leifert said they could go over that separately and if it was larger signage they could do in-house site plan approval. Mr. Leifert read his memo into the record. Chairman Mele asked about if there was one handicap bathrooms on the end and is it existing? Mr. Boe answered there are two existing handicap bathrooms. Ms. Carroll asked about the number of exits. Mr. Boe stated there is an exit out Brooker. MOTION by Commissioner Greco to APPROVE site plan #1537 with conditions as read into the record. Motion seconded by Commissioner Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. b. Proposed Zoning Regulation Amendment Applicant: Bruce Worley Proposal: Amend Section 3.1, Subsection 4.60 – Gymnasiums and Physical Fitness Centers to permit by site plan in the IP-Industrial Park zone (set public hearing date) Chairman Mele noted that the suggested Public Hearing date. MOTION by Commissioner Greco to set the Public Hearing date to December 11, 2024. Seconded by Commissioner Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. c. Site Plan Application #1542 Location: 113 Richard Road Applicant: Claribel Pallasco Proposal: Group Day Care Home in the R40-Residential Zone Applicant, Claribel Pallasco presented her proposal to expand her family daycare program into a daycare center. She described the challenges for families with 3-6-month-olds to find daycare services. Because of this demand she would like to open three more spaces to become a group family childcare and a childcare center in the future. Commissioner Carroll? asked if Ms. Pallasco was currently running a daycare. She answered that she was. Mr. Leifert clarified that family daycares with six or less children Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes – November 13, 2024 Page 4 of 6  are unregulated. Ms. Carroll then asked if Ms. Pallasco was adding on to her building. Ms. Pallasco answered that she plans to add 350 sq. ft. for her to take in more children. Mr. Mele asked if this is for 12 or less children. Mr. Leifert confirmed 12 or less children and reminded the Commission of the regulation changes that occurred in the fall of last year to update regulations for group care based on state statute changes. Ms. Pallasco’s is the first application under the new regulations. Ms. Carroll asked if there had to be updates to the sanitary system. Mr. Leifert stated that the applicant has well and septic system. Ms. Pallasco said she is in process with Torrington Area Health. Ms. Carroll stated that she’s not adding bedrooms, so it won’t matter for the septic. Mr. Leifert read his comments into the record Chairman Mele asked what the hours of operation are. Ms. Pallasco replied 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Chairman Mele inquired if the exits are at grade. Ms. Pallasco replied that there is a second exit to the first floor but they are also proposing to create another emergency exit. Chairman Mele recommended that Ms. Pallasco pay attention to smoke and CO2 detectors as she expands. Mr. Leifert told Ms. Pallasco to check with the Fire Marshall, but since there will be less than 12 children it will be regulated as a single-family home. Mr. Pallasco, the applicant’s husband, described the current fire alarm system on the site. MOTION by Commissioner Greco to APPROVE site plan #1542 with conditions as read into the record. Motion seconded by Commissioner Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Correspondence: a. Zoning and Blight Violation update Mr. Leifert said that they resolved the pig problem on Newfield Road. Ms. Carroll asked if 1050 East Main Street was in compliance yet? Mr. Leifert replied that the area has been repaved, and the sidewalk is in, but needs to get handicap spaces marked and signed to check slopes to bring to ADA compliance. Ms. Greco asked about 205 Litchfield and 105 Summer Street. Mr. Leifert describe it as a long-term blight problem. It’s an unsafe building in which no environmental testing has been done and seems to be used as an illegal boarding house. There are so many things going on that multiple departments are working on it. The city is going to foreclose on the hundreds of thousands of blight fines. Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes – November 13, 2024 Page 5 of 6  Ms. Carroll asked about the old Taco Bell building. Mr. Leifert said that they are treating it as an abandoned building that must come down. A short discussion about the closed Stop and Shop building and how there is no official news about what will replace it. b. Discussion – Solar Project, West Hill Road Mr. Leifert recommended they table this discussion since he has not seen the plans yet. This was approved as a subdivision that was never built out. It will likely combine the subdivision back into one parcel and put a solar development on it. Ms. Greco asked about what happens when a solar development closes. Mr. Leifert replied that if a solar project is approved by the Siting Council, they require a decommissioning plan. The statute recently changed. Instead of being cut off out at ground level, the underground components must be completely removed, which is great if the reuse will be agricultural. Ms. Greco stated that she has researched that there is no regulation as to how the panel itself is recycled. Ms. Carroll asked why they are decommissioned. Mr. Leifert stated that panels have a finite life. He also stated that the power they are generating is not slated for local usage. There was discussion about whether the solar company owned or leased the land. Ms. Greco asked for the acreage of the site. Mr. Leifert replied that it is between 14 and 17 acres with only four or five acres being used. Mr. Leifert said the Commission needs to decide if they want to submit comments to the Siting Council. 8. Adjournment: MOTION by Commissioner Carroll to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 PM. Motion seconded by Commissioner Greco. Motion passed unanimously. Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Minutes – November 13, 2024 Page 6 of 6