Mickey D’s? Or Panera?

Burgers or pastries will be coming to Branford following unanimous approval Thursday by the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for a new bank and a fast food restaurant near the Stop & Shop off Exit 56.

There’s still no word on whether it will be Panera Bread or McDonald’s, but project engineer John Mancini said construction will begin in the spring. Mancini, who represents developers Fusco-Shiller Branford Associates LLC, said several banks have expressed interest in the location. Click here to read an earlier story.

Thursday night was also the opportunity for neighbors to have their say about a proposed house and seawall project at 21 Sunset Beach Road in the Pawson Park neighborhood. Some spoke in opposition, some in support, and some expressed concern about the rift in the neighborhood. The P&Z did not reach a decision on the project last night.

Greg Ainsworth of Sunset Beach Road, who lives two homes away from the site,said the disagreement over the project has affected the neighborhood. “Way too much community social capital has been burned up in this process,” said Ainsworth, who supports the project.

Stop & Shop’s New Tenants

Mancini, who presented the Stop & Shop proposal earlier this month, answered additional questions from the commission Thursday regarding traffic flow at the fast food restaurant and drive-through. “I believe this is a safe design,” Mancini said in regard to the one-way traffic pattern around the restaurant.

Although the project was approved, the developers must return with architectural plans and signage plans once the tenants are confirmed.

The bank will replace the former Friendly’s restaurant, which closed a few months ago. Mancini said demolition may begin over the winter months. The restaurant would be built in the northwest corner of the parking lot, a left turn after entering the complex from Leetes Island Road.

Sunset Beach Developments

The public hearing for 29 Sunset Beach began last month and continued Thursday. Click here to read about the November hearing.

At issue is a proposal by Steven and Brenda Young to tear down a cottage that was built in 1929 and replace it with a two-story home. Plans also call for structural repairs to the seawall and concrete patio, and replacing an existing timber wall with a granite wall.  The property is directly next to a ¼-acre area of beach owned by families in the Sunset Manor Association.

Branford’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), which previously denied variances for the project, gave its approval in December 2011 for the revised project. One of the variances related to reducing the standard 25-foot setback requirement for beachfront properties.

Eunice Kaymen (pictured) of Bayview Avenue, who is president of the Sunset Manor Association, displayed maps showing the layout of the 38 homes that have deeded beach rights.

​“Our beach, only 100 feet wide, is the center of the neighborhood, giving the members a sense of place and identity,” Kaymen said, adding that ​“more granite and concrete would make our beach more vulnerable to erosion.”

She asked the commission to help protect the beach. ​“We are all stewards of a very precious resource,” she said.

Glenda Wenz, of Bayview Avenue, was among many neighbors who said the home would be too close to the water and the additional granite would deflect water and erode the association’s beach. She said she hopes the Youngs can build a home there, ​“but not at the expense of the association members.”

Carlo Montagano of Sunset Beach Road, lives across the road from the beach and adjacent to another parcel where the Youngs had hoped to build a garage. He was concerned about the impact to the association’s beach during and after construction of the house. He said the developers have not included a time schedule for construction, which he said is vital due to the hurricane season.

“The Youngs’ timber wall ended up in my yard in Storm Sandy,” Montagano said.

James O’Donnell, principal scientist and oceanographer with Coastal Ocean Analytics, testified Thursday that the rising sea level will have a great impact on shoreline homes. He said predictions indicate that seas will rise 1.5 feet in the next 40 to 80 years. ​“The big effect it has, it changes the frequency of flooding events.”

O’Donnell said reducing the setback will increase flooding and erosion to the property itself and on the association’s beach. ​“Your decision will have long-range effects,” he told the commission. ​“The best thing you can do for the community … is enforce the rules you have now” regarding the 25-foot setback.

His wife, Jennifer O’Donnell, a coastal engineer with Coastal Ocean Analytics, testified last month.

Not all the members of the association are against the project. David Drexel of Fenway Road said he wants to correct the impression that the entire association is opposed to the Youngs’ project. ​“I support their plans. I don’t think it’s a determent. It will be a better-built house.”

Marley Williams of Sunset Beach Road, said the cottage is a shack and is falling apart. She said the Youngs had an open house and invited people to see plans and offer comments ​“The Youngs are going to be a great addition to the neighborhood,” Williams said.

Stephen Brown of Sunset Beach Road said he is not a member of the association but he appreciates the usual closeness of the community. ​“Now there’s just unbelievable hatred. It’s horrible,” he said. ​“I hope somehow it gets resolved and everybody is happy again. I don’t know how that’s going to happen,” Brown said.

Doris Zelinsky of Sagamore Cove Road, who opposes the project, said there is no hatred. ​“Mr. Brown, I do hope we greet each other on the street. I don’t have any hatred. I hope you don’t.”

Doris Zelinsky is married to Attorney Edward Zelinsky, who is representing the association. ​“We welcome the Youngs’ developing a better house, just not that close to the beach,” she said.

Project engineer Robert Sonnichsen, (pictured) of Waldo & Associates in Guilford, who presented the plans last month, spoke in rebuttal.

“The seawall that we’re talking about is there, and it has been there for years,” Sonnichsen said, adding that there are no plans to make it bigger. “They are repairing it to put it in a safe condition.” Sonnichsen said the house will be raised on piers to meet flood regulations. “The water can flow through and not deflect on other houses,” he said.

Sonnichsen said the project is in compliance with state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and that the Youngs received a certificate of permission for the seawall from the DEEP on Nov. 23. 

Attorney Marjorie Shansky, who represents the Youngs, said the 9-foot setback relates to only one corner of the house and that the variance was approved by the ZBA. She said the setback is not under the jurisdiction of the P&Z because it was already approved.

Attorney Zelinsky, who testified at last month’s hearing, said Thursday that the P&Z does have the responsibility to consider the setback when they deliberate. He filed an appeal against the ZBA’s decision.

The DEEP has authority for structures on the water side of the high tide line, which is now referred to as the coastal jurisdiction line. The P&Z has jurisdiction on the land side of the line, but relies on assistance from the DEEP in regard to coastal site plans.

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