129 Amity Road LLC
Design for self-storage site at 129 Amity: Plans OK’d. No tenant yet.
Will the third time prove the charm?
That’s the question for a vacant parkway-adjacent Amity lot, where a property owner won city permission to build a four-story self-storage facility — after that same landlord won approvals for projects that never got built.
The approval came during the latest regular monthly meeting of the City Plan Commission. The four-hour virtual meeting took place online via Zoom.
The commissioners voted unanimously in support of approving a site plan for a proposed 64,033 square-foot, four-story self-storage facility with an office, 481 storage units, nine parking spaces and one handicap-accessible parking space at 129 Amity Rd.
That 0.74-acre triangular plot of land, on the town border with Woodbridge, sits on the far west side of the city, right next door to the Wilbur Cross Parkway. The property, owned by a holding company controlled by The Owl Shop’s Glen Greenberg, used to house a garden center.
Zoom
Wednesday night’s City Plan Commission meeting.
“There is a real need in the city for self-storage,” attorney Jim Segaloff said Wednesday night, citing a recent New Haven Independent article about a citywide self-storage crunch.
He read from a letter written in support of the project by West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith: “I believe it will be a great asset to our neighborhood … Instead of a vacant lot, it will be an appealing building” that will add to the city’s tax rolls.
The vote of support, taken at the meeting this past Wednesday night, by the City Plan Commission wasn’t the first time in recent years that Greenberg has won site plan approval for the 129 Amity Rd. It was the third.
Soon after buying the property in 2018 for $800,000 from Paula and David Perrotti, he won City Plan Commission approval to open a medical marijuana dispensary on the site. That plan fell through when the state selected the former Tommy K’s Plaza at 1351 Whalley Ave. for the dispensary license instead.
Then, in July 2019, Greenberg won City Plan Commission approval to build a Wendy’s fast food restaurant on the site. Wendy’s subsequently backed out of that deal.
Earlier this year, Greenberg won a use variance and side and rear yard relief for the new self-storage project from the city Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
Segaloff explained in those zoning relief applications that the owner has had such trouble developing the site because it’s surrounded by the Wilbur Cross Parkway and its southbound entry ramp. The state Department of Transportation had advised the owner that a more intensive development of the site would require expensive upgrades to traffic signals and traffic controls.
The self-storage project is not yet a done deal in reality, even if it’s now received its last needed approval from the city. “We do not have a tenant firmly locked in at this point,” project engineer Matt Robillard said at the end of Wednesday night’s presentation.
Real-Life Driving Invoked
Planned detour out of the Amity Rd site for drivers who are not allowed to make a left-hand turn when exiting.
City Plan Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe pressed Robillard on the decision to prohibit left-hand turns onto Amity Road for those leaving the planned new self-storage facility.
Robillard said that there just is not enough space for someone to be able to safely make a left-hand turn out of the facility. Instead, they’ll need to take a detour on Lucy Road and the Litchfield Turnpike if they want to get back to Whalley Avenue in the direction of downtown.
“I can anticipate someone sitting there saying, ‘I’m not doing that,’” Radcliffe said. “Not that you’re responsible for someone violating the law. Just having a general understanding” of how people sometimes behave.
Robillard acknowledged that, while there’s no way to totally prevent someone from breaking traffic laws, the applicant is doing all it can to prevent such a dangerous left-hand turn from happening. They’ll be installing a raised island and signage.
“I’m not saying they can’t do it. They’d have to risk their health and safety of their vehicle to do it,” he said. “All we can do is our best to deter them and make sure they’re not overloading the networks.”
“You are doing whatever you can possibly do,” Radcliffe said approvingly, before all four commissioners present voted unanimously in support.