Developers seek to swap planned medical offices for indoor sports, club at Great River Water Club PDD

The Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 8 opened a public hearing on an application to modify Planned Development District No. 66 to replace medical office uses with an indoor sports and club facility at the Great River Water Club site on River Road.

Attorney Dominic Thomas told the commission the amendment to the statement of uses and standards would remove “professional business and medical office” uses from the PDD and add “indoor sports and club-based sports activities.” The applicant has proposed a parking standard for those uses of one space per 300 square feet of activity area.

The applicant team described the new program as a mixed recreational and marina-oriented facility. Applicant Rick Rahl said the building that formerly was planned to contain medical offices will now include six indoor padel courts, five indoor pickleball courts, a restaurant, gym and boathouse with marina storage. Rahl said the project would also provide rooftop outdoor courts and marine service spaces, and that the club would operate a paid-membership program while remaining open to public members: “We’re going to create a club here, very similar to the establishment that I run in Greenwich at the Water Club,” he said.

Engineer Andrew Kuzmich of Remdes and Mead and architect Joe Mingolelo described site and architectural changes. Kuzmich said the proposal includes sidewalks along River Road with a planted grass strip: “There will be 3 to 4 feet of space between the curb and the sidewalk,” he told the commission. The applicant also told commissioners that the former brownfield on the “AutoSewage” parcel has completed state remediation work and the site is cleared for development, allowing conventional asphalt surfaces there instead of permeable pavement.

The commission and staff reviewed fire-marshal comments and turning radiuses for emergency vehicles. Rahl said fire hydrants will be private but located per the fire marshal’s directions and that turning radiuses had been provided to the marshal and meet required specifications.

During the public comment period, Nick Watson of the Sports Center of Connecticut, which operates facilities nearby, warned the commission of potential market impacts and said his organization was renovating courts but worried that two competing facilities could “both suffer.” Watson asked the commission to weigh economic impacts on existing businesses. Rahl responded that the proposed club model would be complementary to local offerings and could attract membership and visitors who would use multiple area facilities.

The public hearing was closed by a 6-0 roll call vote. The commission said it would schedule further discussion and deliberation at an upcoming meeting; no permit or final vote on the modification was taken Oct. 8.

Why it matters: The change would substitute a medical-office use for a sports-and-club program on a major River Road parcel. That alters traffic, parking, recreational access and waterfront programming and could affect demand for nearby sports operators and restaurants.

What’s next: The commission will discuss the application at a later meeting. The applicant has supplied site plans, a revised statement of uses and standards dated Sept. 8, 2025, building elevations and a fire-marshal letter; staff and commission questions focused on parking, pedestrian connections to River Road and compatibility with adjacent uses.