KENT, Conn.—The Planning and Zoning Commission recently approved an application from Stanley Greenbaum to establish a U-Haul rental business at 247 Bulls Bridge Road.
The application changed the lot’s use from “mixed residential commercial with retail” to “mixed residential commercial with retail and parking of more than one commercial vehicle.”
Doug DiVesta of Divesta Civil Engineering reviewed the site for the outside storage of commercial vehicles. He reported that the Torrington Area Health District and the State Health Department had already approved of the proposal.
The owner lives in the existing two-family house on the site, and the trucks will be parked on an existing lot. Rentals are to be conducted online, and any needed material will be stored in a barn.
Originally, Greenbaum asked for permission to have five commercial vehicles on the site but amended that just before the PZC meeting to include as many as the lot could accommodate.
PZC Chairman Wesley Wyrick, who expressed enthusiasm for a business that will save residents a trip to New Milford or Danbury to rent moving equipment, questioned that change.
“To say you will cram as much as you can on the lot is not forthright,” he said. “I was perfectly willing for five because it is an existing parking lot.”
Other commission members had concerns, among them whether vehicles would be washed over the septic system and the visual impact of the bright orange, black and white vehicles would have when seen by motorists entering Kent on Route 7.
There is an existing hedgerow on two sides of the lot, along Route 7 and adjacent to the Bulls Bridge Inn.
“Esthetically, I would like more hedgerow,” said PZC member Karen Casey.
“It is the first thing people see coming off Bulls Bridge Road,” agreed member Chris Harrington. “I like the fact of U-Hauls being available, but if there were any way to prevent [drivers] from seeing them …”
He also questioned the signage that would accompany the business and was assured that it would conform to zoning regulations.
Casey added that she would like an upper limit on the number of commercial vehicles that could be parked in the lot. Greenbaum said the maximum is 14 cars, but not necessarily 14 trucks. The trucks would vary in size but would not be taller than eight or nine feet.
In the end, the commission approved the site plan with the conditions that no washing of trucks take place over the septic systems; that the number of commercial vehicles be limited to seven; and that eight arborvitae be planted at 10-foot intervals to add height and variation to the hedgerow along Route 7.
Greenbaum must be in the zoning teams pocket. Its funny to me they could be supportive of this when they fight Motoriot at every turn, to a point where it seems nearly discriminatory to the outside observer.
I find it “interesting” that it matters more how this will look from route 7 than how it will look for us living right across Bulls Bridge Rd from this lot.