Board Approves Daycare, Site Plan and Resubdivision for 708 Boston Post Road

The Milford Planning and Zoning Board on June 3 approved a special exception, site plan and resubdivision to permit construction of an 11,550-square-foot two-story childcare and early learning center at 708 Boston Post Road.

Thomas Lynch, attorney for the contract purchaser, told the board the facility — described in filings as a learning center for children from 6 weeks up to about age 6 — is planned on the easterly portion of the parcel after a resubdivision that will leave each resulting lot at roughly an acre. Lynch said the center’s design includes a 5,000-square-foot outdoor play area and would accommodate up to 160 children with an expected average enrollment at roughly 80 percent; the facility would employ 24 staff, roughly 30 percent part time.

“The center is designed to accommodate up to a 160 students and will employ 24 staff members,” Thomas Lynch, attorney for the applicant, said during the hearing. Lynch and the project engineer also told the board the site has two driveways (Boston Post Road and West River Street) with cross-easements planned for shared access, parking and utilities; the proposed parcel for the learning center will include 36 new parking spaces, plus four spaces as part of an easement with the adjacent medical office, for 40 spaces serving the center. The broader site as configured will show 63 total spaces when combined with the existing medical office, the traffic study reported.

Engineers said the project includes stormwater management sized to Connecticut DEEP guidance, and the finished-floor elevation is set above FEMA’s base flood elevation. The Milford Inland Wetlands Agency reviewed the plan and issued a permit covering work in the wetlands review area; the city engineer and other departments also reviewed the proposal. The fire marshal reported conditions that the board added to the approval; board members explicitly amended a motion to require compliance with the fire marshal’s report dated in the record.

Board members voted separately on three items — the special exception, the site plan and the resubdivision — approving each by roll call. The motions include a condition that the applicant comply with the fire department/fire marshal comments and any standard building-permit requirements.

Next steps: the applicant must incorporate the fire marshal’s comments into final plans and obtain building permits and any additional agency approvals before construction begins.