Loading...
2022-11-14 BERLIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Monday, November 14, 2022 240 KENSINGTON ROAD – BERLIN TOWN HALL - 6 P.M. Members in attendance: Dave Cyr, Chairman Ed Egazarian, Vice-Chairman Pete Campanelli, Treasurer Keith Bostrom Not in attendance: Richard Chasse Bob Sisti Chris Coppola Staff: Chris Edge, Economic Development Director 1. Call To Order - Chairman Dave Cyr called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. 2. Audience of Citizens Dr. George Keech DVM, joined the meeting by Zoom and explained that he is the owner of Compassionate Care Veterinary Hospital located next to Dunkin Donuts on the Berlin Turnpike. Over the past few years, the business has grown to the point where they need to expand. Their present spot has no room to expand, so they have looked elsewhere. He is interested in locating at 196 Berlin Turnpike next to Berkshire Hathaway and Sherwin Williams. Director Edge explained that at present, veterinarians are not allowed in that zone which is PS-B. Jackie Greer, the real estate agent who represents Dr. Keech, mentioned that they have requested the addition of the language to the zone as the same thing was done when they located in the BT-2 zone. It will be heard at an upcoming P & Z meeting. The Commission discussed it a bit and decided it is a good use for the new plaza especially with the 72 apartments. Vice Chairman Egazarian made a motion to support the addition of veterinary clinics to the PS-B zone and support Compassionate Care Veterinary Hospital to located at 196 Berlin Turnpike. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Campanelli and passed unanimously. Tony Valenti, one of the partners of Newport Realty Group, thanked the Commission for their support of their nd Steele Center project. He said he is at the meeting as they have a restaurant which will be occupying their 2 building at 29 Steele Boulevard. The lease is signed and the one thing they want is an outside cooler. The cooler will be located on the side of the building that faces Berlin Steel and will not be visible from Farmington Avenue. He said that without the cooler, the deal is not likely to stay together. Commissioner Bostrom made a motion to support the restaurant and the outside cooler (with screening). The motion was seconded by Commissioner Campanelli and approved unanimously. William Jackson and his client Ralph Hayek spoke about the property that Mr. Hayek owns at 1062 Berlin Turnpike, which was formerly used as a gas station and repair garage. Located just south of Route 9, it is located in a BT-2 zone, which due to the current economy leaves limited opportunities for development there. Director Edge stated that the property has been looked at for development for some time, but was purchased by Mr. Hayek a year or so ago. There are a few options worth consideration which include: o Zone change to CCD-1 or BT-1 o Text amendment to allow uses (including a gas station) which could be useful to Mr. Hayek Mr. Jackson said that they had not been considering the zone change to BT-1, just CCD-1. The Commission members expressed support for seeing a redevelopment on the property but we would like them to come back to with a definitive plan and we can then give them feedback and potentially the support of the Commission. They thought this made sense and said they would reconnect with Director Edge soon. Lindsey Dellvecchia joined the meeting by Zoom and explained that she owns two successful salons in the area and is very interested in buying and operating another salon at 398 Chamberlain Highway. Her idea is to offer massages, wellness services and health-oriented products for sale. This is the location which most recently was the home of CT Grows and previously the Kensington Garden Center. It has been vacant for some time and is now on the market for sale. Director Edge mentioned that the property is commercial, but is in the R-21 zone. The garden center was an allowed use within the zone, but a salon (personal service) is not allowed. The concern that Director Edge expressed is that if salons are allowed in all R-21 zones, that means that people could have those businesses in their homes. If this is possible, it would have to be a text amendment which would be limited st in scope so that there are a limited number of options in Berlin. As this is the 1 time they have heard that, the Commission is not willing to make a recommendation. Director Edge said he would look into possible properties that might be similar to 398 Chamberlain Highway. He would come back to the Commission with his findings. At that time, he would also reach back out to Lindsey. 3. Minutes of October 2022 Meeting – no action taken as there are not enough members @ October meeting. 4. Planning & Zoning o Compassionate Care Vet Hospital – support given above o Steele Center – support given above o 1162 Berlin Turnpike – will decide on any support or feedback when they return o 398 Chamberlain Highway – Director Edge said that the property at 398 Chamberlain Highway has a frontage of 286 feet and is on a major state highway, which could be helpful if a text amendment was created. o 285 Berlin Turnpike – a take-out restaurant is proposed in the building in front of Home Depot right next to the Indian Market. The operator of the restaurant is the same as the market. The Commission liked the idea and were in support of this good use there. o Core Area 2 – this was discussed, but as it was a lot to digest, no action was taken. 5. Tax Abatements Air Temp – 63 Fuller Way Director Edge explained that Jeff Leone, the owner of Air Temp, purchased 63 Fuller Way and was able to double the size of his operation as compared to his Southington location. He will be bringing over 100 employees, $2.5 million in equipment/vehicles and will be investing over $700,000 into the building. Commissioner Egazarian made a motion to approve 63 Fuller Way/Leone Realty and Development for a 3 year tax abatement of 50% in year 1, 40% in year 2 and 30% in year 3. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bostrom seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 500 Four Rod Road If the application is approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission, action will be taken on this item. Until then, the item has been tabled. 6. Ribbon Cuttings/Promotion Director Edge discussed the following ribbon cuttings which give us over 60 since early 2020 and include 40 women owned and operated businesses and some milestone awards as well: ● TASCA Ford – 250 Webster Square Road – 11/8 (Ground breaking) ● PokeMoto – 224 Berlin Turnpike – 11/11 (Ribbon cutting) ● Mimo Bistro – 138 Main Street – 11/14 (Ribbon cutting ● Ink Center – 202 New Britain Road - 11/17 (Ribbon cutting) ● Babies to Buddies – 10 Chamberlain Highway - 11/30 (Ribbon cutting) ● Kensington Auto – 89 Harding Street - 11/15 – 35 years ● Drain Doctor – 1083 Farmington Avenue – 11/17 – 50 years ● Mickey Finn’s – 874 Berlin Turnpike – 11/21 – 75 years ● EDRO – 37 Commerce Street – 11/23 – 75 years 7. Marketing Recent Articles – within the packet were articles on Bright Feeds, TASCA Ford as well as the Hartford Courant article on the #itsallinberlin effort. 8. Commissioner Comments None 9. Adjournment - Commissioner Campanelli moved to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded by Commissioner Bostrom, and it carried unanimously 4-0. The time was 7:55 pm.