TORRINGTON — The city Planning & Zoning Commission has rejected a recreational marijuana store proposed for 978 E. Main St. based on traffic and parking concerns.
Members of the board closed a public hearing on the project in November, and discussed their concerns at a Dec. 21 meeting with City Planner Jeremy Leifert. The public hearing included a discussion of the site plans with applicant Patrik Jonsson and his engineering team. Jonsson also was seeking a zone change for the half-acre property currently home to a garage and used for Northwest Transit District buses during the week.
The site plan indicated that customers would enter the property from East Main Street and exit via Yorkshire, a residential street, where a left turn would bring drivers to a traffic light to get back onto East Main Street. PZC Chairman Greg Mone and members Starley Arias and Donovan Riley said the traffic would be a problem for both drivers and pedestrians.
“I truly believe that there’s going to be so much more traffic … it will negatively impact the neighborhood,” commission member Diane Carroll said at the Dec. 21 meeting. “I was stuck (in traffic) in front of the (proposed site) once, and I envisioned people pulling out across three lanes, against traffic.
“There’s no doubt that there will be a lot of customers,” she said. “I just feel that adding 200 to 250 additional cars every day, with children in the neighborhood … I think the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood is at stake.”
Commissioner Greg Perosino didn’t think the East Main Street property was the right location for store, to be called The Collective.
“I know that property pretty well; I know the owners, and the previous ones. I spent a lot of time on the street,” he said. “It’s an odd situation because there’s a lot of activity. This particular piece doesn’t lend itself to the proposal.”
Others said the new cannabis store likely would see a higher traffic volume, but that it would drop off.
“At some point, traffic will diminish,” said commission member Tom Telman. “There will be an initial surge, but when will it drop off? That’s the question. What do you do in the meantime? Hire a cop to manage traffic flow?”
Another reason to deny the application, members said, was because the public hearing sign was not displayed properly, in plain view for the neighborhood, and didn’t meet public notice requirements.
“Left-hand turns are going to be difficult onto East Main Street, with speeds up to 50 mph on that road,” Riley said.
Police Sgt. Dustin Baldis, the city’s traffic officer, told Leifert that drivers should be encouraged to leave the property from Yorkshire.
Resident Kimberly Grustas spoke against the application during the November hearing, saying it would cause “a traffic nightmare.” With documentation she provided, Grustas noted that most recreational marijuana stores had an average of 40 to 90 parking spaces.
Adult-use recreational cannabis sales are expected to begin this year at Still River Wellness on Winsted Road, currently a medical marijuana dispensary.
