Torrington planning commission approves Railroad Square site plan with conditions

The City of Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission on March 19 approved site plan application No. 1557 for the Railroad Square redevelopment, authorizing work that includes a reconstructed railroad platform with a new wood-frame canopy and a 10-foot paved promenade connecting the platform to John Street.

The commission’s approval followed a presentation from Paul Cousins, deputy public works director and city engineer, who described the work as two coordinated contracts: a city-funded promenade and roadway improvements and a separately contracted canopy and platform on railroad property. "We had 5 bids. We had a very favorable low bidder, local contractor Yield Industries," Cousins said, noting that the larger roadway and promenade work is conditionally awarded pending review by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

The commission’s motion approved the plan subject to conditions that require the applicant to supply a final landscaping sheet and lighting cut sheets to ensure compliance with the city’s lighting rules, submit promenade easement documents, maintain anti-tracking measures during construction, and obtain all required building and zoning permits before starting work. Jeremy Leifert, city planner, read the staff report noting plan sheets titled Railroad Square revitalization by SLR Consulting and citing the governing sections of the city zoning regulations that guide the review.

Cousins described project details and funding sources: the platform and canopy are financed with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and will be owned and maintained by the railway; the promenade and John Street improvements are funded through a DECD Community Connectivity grant; other roadway and parking work is funded with city bonds and additional local funding. He said the canopy will be a wood-frame structure with bracing accents, the platform is approximately 450 feet long and 13 feet wide, and the canopy will extend about 200 feet centered with the promenade.

The approved work also includes new lighting, landscaping, benches, a permanent bus pull-off bay near Mason Street, and roughly 75 parking spaces in a new Christmas Village lot intended to serve teachers during the day and the public in evenings and weekends. Cousins said the contractor award for the city portion was unanimously approved by the city council pending DECD approval and that construction must be finished by the end of the calendar year.

The commission’s approval is conditioned on submission of final plan copies, a mylar plan sheet with the chairman’s signature and engineer stamp, and other administrative items specified in sections 8.4.03 and 8.4.06 of the zoning regulations before issuance of permits.