Commission approves seven‑unit boutique hotel at 18 Russell Street with conditions

The Litchfield Planning & Zoning Commission granted approval for a Special Exception to convert 18 Russell Street into a seven‑unit boutique hotel, with specific operational conditions. The vote to approve was unanimous following the public hearing opened May 4.

Planner M. Connor read the submitted business narrative and owner A. Derwin described operations: three guest rooms on the first floor and four on the second; a Guest Services Director will manage operations 24/7 with a response time of no more than ten minutes; housekeeping will be handled by independent contractors; reservations are managed off‑site and there will be no staffed reservation desk. The narrative states the hotel "will not include a restaurant, bar, café or cocktail lounge and is not open to the general public," though the private kitchen behind the lobby "may occasionally provide light food, a limited continental breakfast" or be accessed by authorized catering for prearranged meals. Parking is proposed for one employee and seven guest vehicles. Letters of support from A. Dranginis, E. Oneglia and D. Birdsall (Executive Director, Litchfield Land Trust) were noted.

The Commission's approval included explicit conditions: maximum stay of 30 consecutive days, prohibition on restaurants/bars/cafés/cocktail lounges open to the public, and that parking approval is subject to Attorney Byrne's review and approval of the access easement recorded with CL&P dba Eversource Energy (LLR Vol. 417, pp. 137–140). S. Simonin moved to approve and S. Healy seconded; the vote was unanimous.