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Danbury Zoning Board unanimously approves variances for proposed 36 Newtown Road restaurant
Summary
On Sept. 12 the Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously granted five variances allowing a restaurant at 36 Newtown Road to reduce landscaping and setback requirements, a decision the board said reflected the site's unique shape and steep grades.
The Danbury Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously Sept. 12 to grant five variances for a proposed restaurant at 36 Newtown Road, allowing reduced landscaping and front-yard setback requirements to accommodate parking and site constraints.
Acting Chairman Juan Rivas opened the meeting and the board heard a presentation from attorney Ray Lubas and engineer Ron Wolf, who described the property next to the IHOP on Newtown Road as a preexisting, nonconforming commercial lot with steep grade changes that limit where parking and pedestrian access can be placed. "The requirement is that it be 8 feet wide, and our proposed island is only able to achieve 6 feet in width," said Ron Wolf, the project's engineer, describing one of the requested reductions.
The variances approved allow the applicant to eliminate the front perimeter planting strip, allow parking in the front yard, remove a landscape island for a row of five parking spaces, reduce one landscape island width from 8 feet to 6 feet, and reduce the tree requirement in that island from one tree to zero, all per the submitted plan. Commissioner (speaker 6), who moved to approve the application, said the board "has a legitimate hardship with the contour of the property and the shape of the lot," a rationale the motion cited when listing the requested sections of the zoning regulations.
Board members questioned the applicants about several practical details. The project team stated the plan provides 18 parking spaces in total, with seven spaces proposed in front (including one ADA-accessible stall), and that they had not yet completed a traffic study. Wolf said a four-foot sidewalk is proposed along the frontage and that a Connecticut Department of Transportation encroachment permit will be required at construction, but that the team had not yet contacted the DOT.
The applicants said much of the proposal keeps parking and pavement within the existing footprint. Lubas told the board that deliveries would be made via an access ramp to a north-side door and that existing septic manhole covers would be H-20 rated to allow traffic over them. The applicant’s intended tenant was described as a sandwich or deli-type restaurant; the team identified a prospective operator but said the variances would remain with the property if granted.
Chairman Rivas pressed the applicants for a fuller explanation of the hardship, noting in part that nearby properties appear similarly shaped. Lubas responded that the subject lot is narrower and slopes steeply in places, and that the existing building placement combined with changes to zoning rules left limited options for compliant parking and pedestrian access.
After closing the public hearing, the board opened the application for a vote. Commissioner (speaker 6) moved to approve the variances as submitted; the motion was seconded and carried by unanimous voice vote. Acting Chairman Rivas declared the application passed unanimously.
The board then discussed scheduling and hybrid meeting options briefly and adjourned. The board's next regular meeting was listed on the record as Sept. 26, 2024.
