Middletown planning board delays decision on West Main–Coddington overlay after wide public concern

The Middletown Planning Board on April 10 continued consideration of three pending petitions that would amend the town's future land use map, change the zoning of parcels on West Main Road and Coddington Highway, and create a new West Main'Coddington overlay district intended to enable the proposed Middletown Center development.

Town solicitor Peter Regan said the board's role was advisory: "the planning board's job tonight is to provide an advisory opinion and any recommendations to the town council," and that any zoning change would be reviewed against the town's comprehensive plan and the purposes of zoning.

The petitions before the board were: (1) a change to Map L4 of the Middletown Comprehensive Community Plan to reclassify Assessors Plat 102, Lots 3'7 from institutional to general business; (2) a zoning map amendment to rezone those lots from Public Traffic Sensitive (PA) to General Business Traffic Sensitive (GBA); and (3) creation of the West Main'Coddington overlay district under Town Code Chapter 152 so the development team can implement a mixed'use project on town-owned land.

The meeting opened with a presentation by the applicant team and town staff. Town administrator Sean Brown summarized the project history and recent changes, saying the proposal "has been shaped by planning, public input, federal coordination, and a long term vision for revitalizing our community," and noting that the planning board's recommendation will go to the council for public hearings and final action.

Applicant counsel Gerard Galvin told the board the development team had submitted two revised overlay drafts to respond to comments raised at a February hearing and that the team had made specific concessions: lowering the previously requested hotel height from 75 to 55 feet and narrowing certain uses in the overlay. "We hope that you find the reduction from 75 feet ... to 55 ... as responsive to what we heard on February 5," Galvin said, while also noting the changes will reduce retail area and increase utility costs for the developer.

Developer partner James Karam said the hotel concept includes meeting rooms that the hotel operators often make available at no charge to nonprofits: "All of our hotels have a large meeting room ... we do offer them whenever they're available to any nonprofit group."

Public comment occupied much of the meeting. Dozens of residents urged the board to protect open space now identified as Potsey Field and to delay any rezoning until the town resolves federal deed restrictions. Resident Wendy Reel read a March 2024 letter from the National Park Service into the record, quoting program manager Diane Keith: "I would ask the planning board and the town council to avoid changes to the zoning through an overlay zone until the Federal Land Park Service and the Land and Water Conservation Fund compliance is resolved." Several speakers said the Potsey Field deed requires perpetuity use for public recreation and warned the property could revert to the federal government if the restrictions are not relocated properly.

Speakers also raised infrastructure and programmatic concerns: stormwater and local sewer capacity on Coddington Highway, traffic impacts on West Main Road, the size and character of proposed buildings, the adequacy of proposed open space, and the amount and type of affordable housing. The development team told the board the project includes 150 residential units with 15 permanently affordable units at up to 80% of area median income (10% of units), and that relocating the library to 110 Enterprise Drive would lower construction costs by an estimated $14'$15 million versus new construction on the site.

After extended discussion, planning board members said they were not ready to vote. Several members asked counsel for the town and applicant to prepare a new overlay draft that incorporates the changes and clarifications discussed at the meeting. The board voted to close the public hearing and to continue the matter to a special meeting on April 24 for further review of a revised document.

The board did not take final action on the three petitions; rather, the formal direction was procedural: the hearing closed and the petitions were continued so the overlay text can be revised and reviewed. The board also requested the redraft address points raised in public comment and by board members, including: explicit limits on uses in the municipal/open space parcel, clearer landscaping and signage standards, a cap on hotel stories (members discussed a four'story occupancy limit), limits on roof'mounted equipment and antennas, and specification of which uses require special permits rather than being allowed by right.

The planning board's recommendation, when issued, will go to the Town Council, which must hold its own public hearings and vote. If the council approves any zoning overlay or comp plan amendment, the developer would then proceed with due diligence and the formal land development review process, including master plan, preliminary plan and final plan review and state permits.

What's next: the board continued the matter to its special meeting on April 24 and asked the town solicitor and the applicant's counsel to meet and produce a revised overlay draft reflecting the conditions discussed. The board said that revised text will be circulated for members' review before the continuation. No final zoning or comp plan change was approved at this meeting.