City plan commission approves Panema Landing site changes, requires engineer sign-off on bond

The Commission on the City Plan on May 20 approved a site development plan modification for Panema Landing at 555 and 575 Norwich Avenue that will allow conversion of part of the historic mill into a restaurant, with parking and access improvements, subject to conditions including review of the posted bond by the city engineer.

The approval follows a presentation by Phil Biano, who said the project team has coordinated remediation and testing after soil excavated from the Panema site was identified in tests as exceeding residential standards at several off-site locations. “This was material that was thought to be clean...this was over burned material that was excavated, removed from the site, and then subsequently tested and found it exceeded some of the residential standards,” Biano told the commission. He said two Norwich sites have been remediated and that work is ongoing at a Franklin site with EPA coordination.

Why it matters: the site sits in the Mill Reuse Overlay District and involves a historic mill building. The commission’s vote allows the developer to proceed with access and parking revisions tied to the restaurant conversion while requiring technical items—bond amount, outstanding plan-review comments and city-engineer sign-off—be resolved before filings with the Department of Transportation.

Details of the plan and discussion

Brandon, the project designer on the applicant team, told commissioners the approved plan presented in 2021 anticipated a restaurant use. The modification before the commission would keep a curb cut onto Norwich Avenue, install a retaining wall around a small elevated parking area, provide five parking spaces south of the building (including a van-accessible handicapped space), and create a one-way clockwise circulation across the front with five parallel spaces. Brandon said the restaurant’s maximum patron area would be capped at 4,200 square feet and the team calculated parking based on one space per 75 square feet of patron area. “This is the approved plan we presented to you in 2021,” Brandon said, adding the current filing shows the restaurant would occupy both floors and has a kitchen on the first floor.

Commissioners and applicant also discussed grading and fill. Brandon explained the grading plan and said much of the site work would be net fill in a limited area and only minor cuts for benching the driveway. Commissioners pressed about slope stabilization for a proposed 2:1 slope; Brandon described erosion-control fabric, plantings and other landscaping options to stabilize steep areas.

City engineering and conditions

Staff and the city engineer identified outstanding technical items: bond estimate review, drainage calculations, and other plan-review comments. Dan (city engineer) told the commission the city engineer’s comments would be addressed and recommended that the existing bond be reviewed and increased if necessary to cover restoration tied to the new slope and work. Commissioner Kathy Wazinko moved approval with the condition that the city engineer review the bond and that outstanding conditions in the city engineer’s memo be completed; Ella seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

What was decided (action)

- Approval is conditional: the developer must resolve outstanding items in the city engineer’s memo, and the city engineer will review and, if necessary, increase the bond before further permits or DOT review.

What remains outstanding

The commission required the applicant to incorporate the city engineer’s comments before submitting documents to the Department of Transportation and to update the approval language to reflect the May 20 meeting. The applicant agreed to address remediations at off-site locations and to work with DEP and EPA where necessary.

Ending

Commissioners said they expect the applicant to return final plan revisions addressing the city engineer’s memo and remediation updates. The developer thanked the commission and said he looked forward to delivering a “good restaurant” for Norwich.