The Town of Middletown Planning Committee continued three development applications after applicants or their attorneys said key materials were missing or the applications had not been properly advertised.

At the start of the evening the committee continued a combined preliminary-and-final development plan for adaptive reuse of an existing commercial building at 499 East Main Road filed by CCE Development LLC. Jay Lynch, speaking for the applicant, said the traffic study had not yet been received and asked that the item be continued to March. "We have not yet received our traffic study," Lynch said, asking the board to continue the matter to the March meeting because the traffic study will be referred to the town's consulting engineer for review. The board voted to continue the item to the March 12 meeting.

A separate application from CBUN LLC for a 12,000-square-foot hotel (72 units) at 240 Kudnick Avenue could not be considered because the applicant's attorney was not present and the application had not been properly re-advertised after a change in requested zoning relief. Staff contacted the applicant's attorney during the meeting and confirmed he had requested a continuance; the board moved to continue the item to Feb. 12.

A third matter, Seascapes Holding LLC's application for a minor land-development plan to construct a 2,442-square-foot commercial building at the property identified in the record, also generated a motion to continue. Staff noted additional documents had been submitted the day before and recommended time for review and, if appropriate, referral of the traffic report to the town's consulting engineer. The committee voted to continue that item to the next meeting and to refer the traffic report to the town engineer for review when it is received.

Why it matters: the continuances preserve applicants' rights to a full, properly advertised hearing and give staff and the board time to review technical materials such as traffic studies; one applicant acknowledged the need for a traffic study and asked for the extra time.

The committee confirmed the continuances on the record and directed staff to note the new hearing dates and to route technical reports to the town consulting engineer as requested by the board.