Developers present proposal for two warehouses at Midland Avenue; board raises traffic, noise and screening concerns

Developers seeking to redevelop 17 Midland Avenue told the Middletown Planning Board on Monday that they plan two new warehouse buildings — one about 94,000 square feet and a second about 77,000 square feet — and asked the board for conceptual direction before committing to detailed design and expense.

The developers’ team, led by civil engineer David Higgins of Langatelli Engineering and Surveying, told the board the site currently contains roughly 15,000 square feet of existing structures that would be removed to make room for the two larger buildings. Higgins said the site plan shows vehicular access from Midland Avenue, a gated emergency-only connection to Cottage Street, and coordination with the railroad to use an existing spur for deliveries.

The applicants also provided preliminary parking and traffic work. Philip Greeley of Kios Engineering and Design said the team’s Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)-based parking and trip-generation analysis produced a “317 spaces” parking estimate including 12 ADA spaces. Higgins told the board that, under one city-code method keyed to employees, the same project would be calculated as 172 employees and 86 required parking spaces. Higgins said the plan shows 12 loading docks for Building 1 and eight loading docks for Building 2.

Why it matters: the project is much larger than the former use and sits adjacent to residential properties on…