Avon planners deny Avon‑Avenue access waiver for proposed Walmart Market and continue DPR for 30 days

The Avon Advisory Planning Commission voted to deny the key design waiver that would have allowed direct access from a proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market to Avon Avenue, citing staff and public‑safety concerns raised by the town’s traffic analysis and by nearby residents.

Staff recommended denial of waiver A (access) and waiver B (exceeding the town’s average parking lot lighting standard), and supported a minor waiver C for light spillage at driveway locations. After petitioner counsel Misha Rabinowitch and the project’s traffic engineer described a right‑in/right‑out access design and a proposed northbound right‑turn lane, commissioners questioned whether the proposed access would meet the town’s separation standards and whether the traffic impacts — modeled in the PM peak hour — would degrade level‑of‑service at the Governors Row/Avon Avenue intersection.

Neighbors and homeowners‑association representatives pressed the commission on safety: speakers cited proximity to schools, the new fire station, playgrounds and pool areas, and described existing peak‑hour backups that they said a new Avon‑Avenue entrance could worsen. Chris Thornberry and other remonstrators asked the commission to require the site be served only by the existing Oriole Way/County Road 150 and Governors Row access points.

After discussion, the commission denied waiver A by majority vote and recorded the denial in the meeting minutes. Waiver B had been withdrawn by the petitioner during the hearing. The commission approved waiver C (a small increase in allowable light spillage into rights‑of‑way at driveway connections) on a finding that the minor deviation was acceptable at driveway intersections for safety reasons.

Because the Avon‑Avenue access was central to the petitioner’s current site configuration, the petitioner requested and the commission granted a continuance to allow the team to prepare a revised plan that eliminates the denied access or addresses staff‑requested street improvements. The continuance was granted for 30 days; the item was continued to the commission’s March 23 meeting. Staff advised that any future plan that includes Avon‑Avenue access would need substantial public‑street improvements (roundabout, lane widenings or other mitigation) to address capacity and safety concerns recorded in the traffic analysis.

The denial and continuance leave the submission active; the petitioner may return with a revised access plan or a modified traffic‑mitigation package for the commission to consider at the next hearing.