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Neighbors and commissioners press back on brewery in proposed mixed-use plan for Randolph Road site
Summary
Applicants seek a site-plan modification and special exception to reuse the former Eversource building for mixed uses including an indoor fieldhouse and a restaurant-style brewery. Neighbors and multiple commissioners said the brewery is a material departure from the original soccer-focused approval; the public hearing was continued for more review.
Zachariah Edinger, the applicant for the Vail Sports Club project at 49 Randolph Road, presented a mixed-use redevelopment plan to reuse an existing building for an indoor soccer fieldhouse and tenant spaces including a fitness center, physical therapy offices and a restaurant-style brewery with outdoor seating.
Several nearby residents and commissioners said the proposal departs sharply from the original approval for a soccer facility. "Now we're talking a brewery. I am so opposed to a brewery that I will fight it as much as I possibly can," said Claudia De France, who identified herself as a nearby resident. Commissioners raised similar concerns about traffic, noise and proximity to Middletown High School, and several described the presence of a brewery as a "bait-and-switch" compared with earlier presentations focused on an athletic facility.
Edinger said the application is twofold: a site-plan modification to relocate the fieldhouse and a bundled special-exception application for the interior uses that MXI zoning requires. He told the commission the mixed-use concept was discussed at an earlier meeting and that tenants were not finalized until recently. Staff noted that the MXI use table explicitly lists breweries as a special-exception use and recommended either continuing the hearing so the applicant can address concerns in writing or withdrawing the brewery portion and seeking separate review.
Commissioners suggested procedural options: approve only the site-plan modification while leaving interior uses for separate consideration, or continue the hearing to allow the applicant to provide more detailed information and to let neighbors submit written comments. The commission voted to continue the public hearing so the applicant can refine the filing and provide additional materials.
